


You're My Everything

by Enterthetadpole



Category: Septiplier - Fandom, Tythan - Fandom
Genre: Engagement, Marriage, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2019-03-12
Packaged: 2019-09-27 17:21:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 23,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17166104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Enterthetadpole/pseuds/Enterthetadpole
Summary: The direct sequel to "His Bright Eyes". If you haven't read the first book then this book's events may be very hard to follow.Jack and Mark are newly engaged, but happily ever after sometimes does take a while. When old wounds are reopened and new problems form, will their love be enough to keep them together?Only time and a lot of working through things together will tell."You're My Everything" is lovingly dedicated to Kel aka @CaddyCorner for her wonderful support of my work and for writing the amazing book "You're Up Awfully Late."





	1. "You needed a song as amazing as your smile."

**(A/N: The song is "I Got You" by Jack Johnson, and is meant to be listened to during this chapter. In my opinion it is best to listen to the song during the <> indicators of the chapter, or to read the chapter in full, and then listen to the song while following along with the lyrics)**

-Jack's POV-

Crash!

_Shit!_

I swiveled around the kitchen, ears listening in for any movements from upstairs. Silence. I exhaled deeply, picked up the dropped mixing bowl, and placed it quietly into the sink.

It was hard enough sneaking out of the bed this morning without waking him up. He had hearing that could rival Chica sometimes, but damn it I was going to surprise him today if it killed me.

I checked the clock.

7:15am.

If he usually got up at 8:30am that gave me just enough time to finish everything and get the table set up before he got to the kitchen.

I zipped over to the table and grabbed another bowl and started putting in the sugar and and bittersweet chocolate. The cake was finally cool enough to place the icing on and then, I would be done.

<>

There was music and whistling echoing from the staircase and moving towards me in the kitchen. I sighed. How in the world did he get up before I was ready for him? 

_Sigh._

I moved the cake as quickly as I could to the refrigerator. Then leaning against the counter, I waited for the love of my life to turn the corner, guitar in hand, to apparently serenade me.

"Back when all my little goals seemed so important,  
Every pot of gold fill and full of distortion.  
Heaven was a place still in space not in motion,  
But soon..."

_How can he look so perfect this damn early?_

"I got you.  
I got everything.  
I've got you.  
I don't need nothing.  
More than you.  
I got everything.  
I've got you."

"We went walking through the hills,  
Tryin' to pretend that we both know.  
Maybe if we save up.  
We can build a little home.  
But then the hail storm came and yelled.  
"You need to let go, you've got no control. No."

"I got you.  
I got everything.  
I've got you.  
I don't need nothing  
More than you.  
I got everything.  
I've got you."

"This weight's too much alone,  
Some days I can't hold it at all.  
You take it on for me,  
When tomorrow's too much,  
I'll carry it all.  
I've got you."

"And when tomorrow's too much,  
I'll carry it all.  
I got you."

"I got you.  
I got everything.  
I've got you.  
I don't need nothing  
More than you.  
I got everything.  
I've got you."

He grabbed me by the hand as he whistled the last few cords as I sat at the kitchen table. When the song finished he looked up at me, and smiled.

"Happy 1 year anniversary, Bright Eyes," he whispered.

I smiled and shook my head.

He looked at me, slightly puzzled.

"Didn't you like the song?" he asked, his chocolate colored eyes slightly wide.

"I loved the song," I said standing up and walking over to the fridge. "You just got your surprise out first, you goober!"

I pulled out the three layer chocolate cake and placed it on the counter.

He stared at it in amazement. "Aww, Sean," he said leaning his guitar against the wall and coming over to look at the cake more properly. "It's just...the most beautifully fattening thing I have ever seen in my life."

"No it's not," I said, leaning over and giving him a kiss. "I still have a whole two layers of frosting to put on it." I grabbed a large spoon off the counter and waved it at him. "Once I'm done with this cake it will have so much sugar it could stop an elephant's heart!"

He laughed, and gave me a kiss on the forehead. "To be murdered by chocolate," he said happily, "Just what I wanted for my anniversary."

"It was either this or death by a 1000 orgasms," I said, winking at him. "I only could guarantee 943. So you get cake instead."

His raised an eyebrow at me.

"Actually," I said, rolling my eyes. "I'm still a bit mad at you for ruining my surprise, and I did notice that "pot of gold" line in the song, so you'll only get 941 orgasms today."

"You're a monster," he said dramatically.

We both laughed and our lips met again, our engagement ring necklaces hitting our chests as we pressed in tightly to each other.

I giggled at my own thoughts as our lips and tongues created new places to explore in our deepening kiss.

_Death by chocolate cake sounds absolutely delicious to me._


	2. "You can't make a pasty Irishman run in the California sun!"

-Mark's POV-

"Jack?"

"No, I absolutely refuse!"

I sighed and leaned my head against the bathroom door.

"Bright Eyes, if you are going to force me to eat seven layer chocolate cakes, then you have to at least be willing to go jogging with me."

"It was only three layers," he screamed, his voice muffled from the other side of the door. "And I hate exercising!"

"Fine," I said, moving away from the door, "but if I have to go jogging by myself that means I'll be eating less of your desserts."

The bathroom door opened slowly, and he poked his head out. His blue eyes scanning my face for possible bluffing signs.

There were none. I was serious.

"But I love making you desserts," he said, still firmly behind the door.

"And I love eating them," I said softly, "but unless you no longer like the shape of my ass, I either need more exercising or less sweets."

His eyes narrowed menacingly at me, but I stood my ground.

"Your choice," I said, hearing Mexican stand-off music in my head.

He groaned and came out of the bathroom, looking slightly defeated.

"Fine," he said sourly. "How much?"

"Three seems like a good start."

"Three minutes?" he asked, sounding delighted. "I can do that!"

I laughed. "No, three miles."

He turned around to head back into the bathroom, but I grabbed him by the arm. "Tell you what? We will start off with 15 minutes, but I want real jogging, not that Baywatch slow-motion bullshit. Deal?"

He sighed and nodded. "Deal, but I'm complaining during the entire 15 minutes."

"Fair enough," I said, throwing him a pair of jogging pants from the dresser.

***  
-Jack's POV-

This was a mistake. Every part of my body is screaming that this was a mistake to agree to jogging.

"Hey," he yelled, "pick up the pace! You promised to really jog."

"I am jogging," I said, feeling my heart in my throat. "If I die out here, I'll come back as a ghost and haunt you for the rest of your life."

He turned around and headed back over towards me, his black hair rippling in the wind and not a drop of sweat on him.

"Honestly," he said as he got closer to me, "you as a ghost would be kind of hot. You would make a great Patrick Swayze."

"You realize that would make you Demi Moore, right?" I asked, slowing down.

He paused, and frowned deeply. "We both have sultry dark eyes and pouty lips. I can pull it off."

I stopped in place and hunched over. My hands on my knees and breathing as if I had run an Olympic race. My face and arms were burning like fire, and my lungs seemed to resent needing to be used right now.

"How in the hell can you look like you haven't run at all?" I asked, looking into his flawless face.

"Jack," he said, trying not to grin too much. "We've only been out here for five minutes."

"Lies," I wheezed. "You clearly have built a device that slows down time. We started jogging at least three months ago according to my heart rate."

He laughed and gave me a hug. "Ok, how about two more minutes and we'll head back inside?"

"You have no idea how much I love you for saying that," I said, relieved.

He chuckled, and he hugged me tighter. I inhaled his aftershave as I was pressed against his firm chest. In these moments I could remember clearly why I loved being so close to him. His warm embrace surrounding me and helping me feel so incredibly loved and protected.

"Does the two minutes count if we just stay here on the side of the road and hug?"

"No, babe...it does not."

"Damn it."


	3. "You know what those those flamingo shorts do to me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N: This is a lemon chapter)

-Mark's POV-

I rubbed my belly and could feel the chocolate cake, almost mocking my pitiful attempt at jogging, as it tumbled around my insides. I sighed, and stretched more comfortably on the living room couch. The television screen played some sort of infomercial. It looked like some product that infused cheese into different other food items.

Jack would want to buy that, just to find new ways to make it impossible for me to fit out of the front door. I heard bare feet as they were hitting the wood floor, and I flipped the channel quickly in a vain attempt to protect what was left of my figure.

He turned the corner wearing his flamingo shorts, wedding band necklace and nothing else. The top of his shoulders and hair still slightly damp from an obvious shower. He eyed me suspiciously.

"Why did you change the channel all of the sudden?"

_Oh shit._

"No reason," I said, my mind racing. "Was watching...porn?"

"That lie is actually insulting to not only me, but to the entire industry of porn," he said as he walked over to me on the couch.

He held out his hand to me, palm side up. Sighing deeply, I handed him the remote. In a quick motion he pushed the "prev. channel" button and his ocean eyes widened in the awe of cheese infused everything.

He looked over to me, his mind reflecting on the possibilities of the food related future.

"Babe," I said, my tone wary, "If you buy that, I'll make you jog with me again."

"Fine," he said shortly, and changed the channel back to the news. He laid down with me, in our usual lounging on the couch positions. Our legs slightly tangled and his head nuzzled perfectly onto my chest. I wrapped my arms around him and rubbed the small of his back, and he moaned softly.

He looked up at me, his brilliant blue eyes sparkling in the bright daylight of the afternoon, and inched his way up to my lips and kissed me. The warmth that I felt was instant, and he deepened the kiss as I reached down to take hold of his narrow waist in my hands.

The noise of the television faded away as we focused on our kisses, now a blur of teeth, lips and tongues. I could feel his slender fingers pulling down my jogging pants so that he could pull out my length. I was so hard already. I opened my eyes just in time to see his face float lazily down and his soft pink lips wrap around me. Groaning at the feeling, I grabbed his curvy ass in my hands, one cheek in each palm as his head moved up and down.

I felt him giggle in his throat as I squeezed his rear again. My body shuttered at the feeling of his mouth exploring every part of my pelvis, sucking softly.

Needing his lips again I lowered my head and placed my hand on the sides of his face, and he slid up my shaft and released me. He moved towards the left side of my neck and began to nibble it with needy teeth and gentle tongue. I turned my head to the left and caught the side of his mouth with mine, and he paused to follow my movements. His legs and bare feet curled up towards my torso, and his fingers found my hips and inner thighs again.

"Oh, Sean," I said softly, as I felt his fingers wrap around me. His eyes were heavy lidded as he began to stroke me, and I took my hand and rubbed his bulge as he hissed into my ear. His lips met mine again and I began to flex my legs with the motion, groaning a bit at the enjoyable friction.

After a few more moments I needed him more than ever, and I grabbed roughly at his shorts and adjusting himself, I was able to unzip and pull them down. I could feel his length hit my stomach as he wetted my member with his hands, and then he sat on top of me.

Both of us groaned. This was heaven. It always was with him. I took his left hand into my right to interlock our fingers, and my left hand began to pump him slowly. He moved back and forth on top of me, his rosy chest and nipples so beautiful in the fading afternoon light. His necklace and wedding band always glistened like golden stardust in these moments, more radiant in the contrast of his porcelain skin.

I left go of his hand to place grab a handful of his ass again to guide his movements into me. His face was so amazing to watch when he was riding me. He would bite his bottom lip when he would hit certain angles, and his moans were so nice.

And every once in a while, he would whisper something in Gaelic. More to himself than to me. I had learned what some of the words meant. "Mo Chuisle" meant  "My Pulse" and "gra mo chroi" meant "love of my heart".

There were others but I was still learning them. His groans were longer now, and I moved my right hand to his middle of his back and scratched him. He gasped and leaned in, our chests touching and kissed me again. His slender fingers ran through my hair as he leaned over to my right ear and whispered. "Spank me."

I placed both of my hands on the cheeks of his bottom and gave it a quick slap. He groaned in my ear, his body on fire. "Again," he groaned.

I smacked his ass again, his smooth skin bouncing off of my fingers. His tongue licked his lips at the sting of the smack, and he looked down at me with eyes so dark the moment that my loins felt like they would climax for days.

He grabbed onto my shoulders and began to bounce up and down, and I could feel myself hitting his prostate over and over again. I was tensing up and knew that I was close, and pulled him to my lips again. With just the sounds of our moans and growing bodies, I groaned as I felt him tighten around me. His body stiffened up sharply, and head thrown back as climaxed on top of me, the waves of his pleasure passing over me like a warm summer breeze. He took a large deep breath and exhaled slowly, and then groaned as I grabbed his hips and bucked a few more times upwards and held onto him  as his body rocked into another orgasm.

His mouth was slightly opened as he finished and eyes rolled back into his head, and then exhausted he closed his eyes completely and fell slowly onto my neck and chest.

He was still twitching a bit in the ripples of the second climax. I kissed his cheek as he began to relax. "That was amazing," he said, his voice heavy with afterglow.

I kissed him again as I felt him fall asleep in my arms, "It's always amazing with you." I sighed and rubbed his glistening shoulders and after a few deep breaths, he began to softly snore.

I glanced up at the television, and leaning carefully not to wake him up, I changed the channel back to the informercial.

An actor with dark brown hair and perfect teeth was holding up the cheese infuser, his dark blue eyes marveling at the fresh loaf of sourdough bread that was plumping up with Wisconsin cheddar.

I sighed, and silently asking for my waistline to forgive me, I picked up my cell phone from the coffee table, and waited patiently for flashing toll free number to appear again on the screen.


	4. "You probably should have started calling them a month ago."

-Mark's POV-

"Thank you for calling the passport renewal office. Please speak your responses clearly so that we can route your call correctly. How may we help you today?"

"Customer service," I speak clearly into my phone.

"Thank you. You said that you had a question about our office hours. Is that correct?"

"No," I said clearly.

"Ok great. Our office hours are Monday through Friday from -"

"No," I said, my headache getting worse.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Let's try again. How may we help you today?"

"Customer service," I said again.

"Thank you. You want to learn more about the passport renewal process, is that correct?"

"No," I said, feeling my patience evaporating with each moment.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Let's try again. How may we help you today?"

"CUSTOMER SERVICE," I shouted, my voice cracking slightly.

"Thank you. You want to speak to customer service, is that correct?"

My heart leapt. "Yes," I said happily, sitting up straighter in my office chair.

"Ok, great. We are now transferring you to the Mandarin Chinese speaking customer service line."

I groaned and hung up the phone.

"I'm really not trying to say I told you so..." he said smugly as he walked in and sat in the chair beside me.

"Then don't," I grumbled back. "That stupid crazy recording just tried to transfer me to a customer service representative who spoke Mandarin."

He rolled his eyes. "Mark, you do know that the rep you were being transferred probably spoke English too, right?"

I groaned again. "I didn't even think of that!"

He sighed sympathetically at me, and took my right hand in his left. "I'm pretty good at getting a hold of people on the phone for these types of things. Just take some deep breaths, and let me handle it, ok?"

I nodded, thanking him.

"So, other than that, did you buy the plane tickets?"

I nodded. "Set for April 12th. 5am flight."

He flinched at the time.

"That's the only morning time that they offered," I said, shrugging my shoulders.

He sighed and got up out of his chair. I took a hold of his left hand and looked up at him.

"If you still want to wait a while to do this, we can."

He chuckled. "Mark, I already said yes to marrying you, so us finally moving in together seems like less of a commitment at this point, don't you think?"

I interlaced our fingers together and smiled. "I guess you're right about that, it's just that you having to go through selling your house, and getting rid of so many things...it bothers me."

He moved over to me and sat gently on my lap, and rubbed my back with his right hand. "It's sweet that you are worried about my house and my things, Bright Eyes, but we talked about it. As much as I'm going to miss Brighton, it just makes more sense with YouTube and our lives that I move to Los Angeles."

I inhaled and pressed my cheek to his chest. It just seemed like he was having to make so many changes for me. Not to mention he would be even further away from his family, not to mention Robin, Felix and so many of his other friends.

"We could just keep both places," I suggested softly. "The money part of it can be easily worked out."

He sighed, and looked into my eyes. "It's just a house and just things," he said, leaning down and nuzzling my nose.

"But Sean," I said, trying to make him understand. "I'm taking you away from your home."

His fingers caressed my stubbly beard, and then turning, so that he was straddling my legs, his chest touching mine. I placed my hands around his small waist and our foreheads touched.

"My home is wherever you are," he said softly.  Crying at his words, I found a safe place to rest my weary head, and he sat there with me until I was okay again.


	5. "You're going to slowly kill me, one calorie at a time."

-Mark's POV-

"No. FUCKING. WAY!"

His hands trembled as he looked inside of the FedEx package, and I prepared myself for the scream of delight and the bone crushing hug to follow it. In one movement he pulled out the a large white box with lettering all over the side. His face broke into a giant smile as he pulled out what clearly looked like giant caulking gun.

On the side of in bright red letters was Cheese Infuser 5000. The device was a broad as his chest, and the handle looked almost menacing in the about of power you could push out cheese. I took a few steps back from the kitchen island as Jack placed one of the large cartridges into the holster.

"Bright Eyes," I said calmly, raising up my hands as if he was a mad gunman, "remember that I love you. Please use that thing responsibly."

His mind seemed to be racing, and he looked at me fully in the face, his eyes alive with the amazing possibilities. "I am going to shove cheese into so much shit!"

"There are so many wrong things in what you just said. I don't even know where to begin."

He rolled his eyes and ran over to me, giving me the bone crushing hug that I was expecting. I couldn't help be smile at how happy he was, my waistline be damned. He started reading the instructions manual and after a few moments grabbed his phone and send me a text as to what types of cheeses to buy the next time I was at the store.

"I don't even know how to say the name of some of these," I said, feeling bewildered. "I refuse to eat any food that I can not easily pronounce."

"Really?" he asked, with a smirk on his lips. "What was the name of the dish I made us on Sunday?"

_Shit._

"Chicken..."

"Chicken what?"

"Chicken...with stuff...in it?"

"You do realize that you could be naming at least ten different dishes, right?" he said, moving the cheese infuser to a clear space in a kitchen drawer.

"Ok, so I'm not a scholar when it comes to the name of chicken dishes," I grumbled. "You love me for my body, not my mind."

He giggled and gave me a gentle kiss on the lips. "You do have a really nice body," he said, giving my ass a firm pat, "but you are so much more than that and you know it."

I leaned in for another kiss and I felt him pat my ass again.

"So, other than getting a lot of fancy cheeses, did we need anything else from the store?"

"No, I think that should cover it," he said. "I'm going to be heading up to the office to work on a few videos. We still have our appointment with Mr. Spencer on Thursday?"

I nodded my head and adjusted my glasses. Mr. Spencer had finally gotten all the details out for being a full sponsor on both of our channels, and with the rising problems with advertisers on YouTube it was a welcomed relief to have a solid sponsorship. Mike had spent weeks getting all of the paperwork done, and tomorrow would be the final meeting. Jack and I would need to be leaving early, and my nerves were starting to show.

"So, tell me again about Mr. Spencer," I said, heading over to the kitchen table and sitting down. "What's he like? I've only talked to him on the phone. You said something before about him looking like an angry eagle, right?"

"Vulture, actually," he said, as he threw the FedEx box in the trash. "Really tall and intimidating, with a deep voice. Even Mike was nervous as hell."

"Wow," I said, my eyebrows raised. "That's definitely saying something if he makes Mike sweat bullets."

He giggled and sat down next to me. "Yes, but I think that Mr. Spencer will be happy to finally meet you. He grabbed my hand and held it tightly.

"Why do you think that?" I asked, kissing his hand.

He shrugged. "Because everyone likes you, Bright Eyes. You are able to put pretty much anyone at ease. You're charming, funny, and incredible sweet.

"Mr. Septiceye," I said, nuzzling his neck, "I do believe you're going to make me blush."

He smiled, and lowering his head towards me caught my lips for a tender kiss. "I like making you blush."

"Well, I blush for more than just kind words," I said, giving him a small wink.

"I'm aware of that," he said smoothly. "You are great at blushing and for getting me difficult to pronounce cheeses. You are the total package."

"Package? I feel that there is a dick joke somewhere in that compliment." I said, giving him another kiss.

"If there was, I'd never admit to it."


	6. "You never told me that he was that hot!"

-Jack's POV-

"Good morning," said the calm feminine voice from the intercom. "How may I help you?"

I pressed and held the black button on the call box outside of the office. "Mr. Fischbach and Mr. McLoughlin to see Mr. Spencer please?

We heard a loud buzz and I pulled open the door. The familiar red and gold furniture was in the large spacious sitting area. The blonde receptionist greeted Mark and I warmly, and asked if we would like a drink. We both politely declined and she pointed to a large red sofa for us to sit while we waited. Mark adjusted him tie, looking nervous.

"You look great," I said to him as we sat down. "Just relax. Mr. Spencer is really serious but just as long as you answer his questions and don't make direct eye contact, you'll be fine."

"Right," Mark said, his voice sounding slightly more high pitched than usual. This was always a sigh of his nerves. I took hold of his left hand with my right, and I squeezed it gently.

"Worse case if he starts to scare you too much, just make a noise like a zebra, I'll hit him over the head with a chair, and we run off with the wall safe in his office. There enough money in there to start our new life of crime."

Mark chuckled, and leaning over, gave me a kiss. "Thanks, I needed that laugh."

We sat in silence for a moment, and then Mark leaned back over to me again.

"What sound does a zebra make, anyway?" he whispered.

"I have no fucking idea," looking back at him, thoughfully.

"Mr. Spencer will see you now," said the receptionist, walking back over to us, and pointing to a large door to the left.

We both thanked her and got up off of the couch. We both took a final moment to look at each other. Mark's dark grey suit fit him perfectly, with splash of color with a red and grey striped tie. I adjusted my collar and looked up.

"Is my hair still behaving?" I asked.

"Yeah, you look great," he said, nerves clearly in his throat. "How about me?"

"You still look amazing," I whispered, trying not to laugh at the fact that I already told him this minutes before. "Oh, the things that I would do to you on this couch."

He smiled, held out his hand and I took it. "Hold me steady until we get to the door?" he asked. "I'm fairly certain I may faint before we clear this room."

I smiled and nodded as we walked towards the large wooden door. "We face the vulture on three?"

He took a deep and steady breath. "Yes, that works for me."

We unlaced our fingers, I took hold of the brass handled doorknob, and I looked back at him.

"One...two...three," and then I turned the handle, and we both walked inside.

The room hit both of of us with the loud sounds of classical music. It was very pleasant, but unexpected. I saw Mr. Spencer first, who was sitting at his over large desk, his elbows resting comfortably on the surface of the deck, eyes closed and the fingertips of his large hands touching each other. He made no indication that he knew that Mark and I were in the room. I looked back at Mark, who had entered the office only a few seconds after me, and his face matched my puzzled feeling almost perfectly.

We continued into the room, after Mark pulled the door close. I watched as his dark chocolate eyes took in the grand scale of Mr. Spencer's office. My descriptions of how massive the entire place was really could only do so much. You had to see it to fully appreciate it. The walk took a long time, and even though we were not trying to be quiet heading to his desk, and the music was not incredibly loud, I was concerned that Mr. Spencer would be startled by us very soon. He was still sitting so still, his eyes closed.

Mark made a loud clearing of the throat that I was fairly certain was intentional to rouse Mr. Spencer, and while I appreciated his efforts, it didn't do anything. We finally got to the two chairs which Mike and I had been sitting in roughly six months ago, and sat down. Still no movement or acknowledgement that we were there, or that anything else in the world existed except for Mr. Spencer and the beautiful music around us.

I looked over to Mark, whose face looked almost adorably baffled at the situation we were in. He leaned over to me and spoke as quietly as he could. "Is this part of what you and Mike went through," he asked, his voice full of conern. "Is this like a test? Are we supposed to poke a stick at him, or answer three riddles?"

"I have no earthly idea what is going on," I answered back, trying not to have my panic show too much on my face. "He wasn't like this when I met him the last time."

The music swelled and then with a few more bars, the song ended. There was silence again, and Mr. Spencer opened his eyes, and looked at the two of us for the first time since we opened the door and walked in.

"Brandenburg Concerto Number 3 in G Major," Mr Spencer said, his voice still extremely low and slow. His eyes, that same almost unnaturally blue hue that caused me to wonder if he was at some point part of an interesting science experiment. "Do either of you gentlemen listen to the classics?"

I felt my brain jump start, realizing that he had asked both Mark and I a question. Mark spoke before I had a chance to do so.

"Yes, sir," he said, his voice much stronger than I had expected it to be. "My father and I listened to a lot of the classical music when I was much younger."

Mr. Spencer nodded approvingly, his eyes scanning Mark, as if he was x-raying him. "I apologize for my delay in greeting. I have been told by my physician that I need to relax more, and the suggestion of music in my office seemed like a good one."

"Oh, no we didn't mind at all," I said, trying to keep my voice casual. "Thank you for sharing such a lovely song with us."

"You are very welcome, Mr. McLoughlin," he said simply. "I assume that you are feeling better. Mr. Fischbach?" he asked, still looking at me, but speaking to Mark.

Mark said yes, somewhat taken aback at being spoken to without eye contact, but he recovered fairly quickly from it.

"So, I am glad that I was able to get the final paperwork completed," Mr. Spencer continued, his right hand gesturing to a small stack of papers on the desk. "Please feel free to take these copies with you to review. Mr. Rogan has already sent over the adjustments and they have been added."

I nodded and took the papers from the desk.

"I am going to unfortunately not going to be the one who will be monitoring the day to day operations of the sponsorship," he said, looking somewhat grave.

Mark look surprised by this, and spoke up. "Oh, that's a shame, sir. Both Sean and I were looking forward to working with you on a daily basis."

I was fairly sure that this wasn't true, considering the last few times that Mark and I had talked about the idea of Mr. Spencer, lurking like a tall bat around our house, but I applauded Mark's ability to sound genuinely disappointed.

"That is very kind of you to say, Mr. Fischbach," Mr. Spencer said, inclining his head, "but between my physician's concern for my health, and owing that I am not the most youthful face to be appearing on either of your channels, as infrequent as it would be, I am perfectly fine with the decision. I of course will still be overseeing the final product, but as to everything else, both you and Mr. McLoughlin will be working with Mr. Edge. He is an excellent person to not only deal with the daily part of marketing and public relations, but I have been told but many people, including my granddaughter Sarah that he is 'very pleasing on the eyes'."

Both Mark and I nodded, seeming to not know what to do with this information.

"You will be meeting with Mr. Edge at once," he said, slowly rising in his seat. I chuckled softly at the look of surprise in Mark's eyes, finally being able to see how tall Mr. Spencer actually was. "My secrectary will give you the information as to where Mr. Edge's office is. It is on this same floor, I believe."

We both thanked him, and after saying our goodbyes headed back out to the waiting area. I handed Mark the paperwork as we waited for the receptionist. She smiled as she returned and gave us a couple of business cards.

"Mr. Edge's office is just down the hall and to the left. Suite 423. He already knows that you are coming to see him."

We gave our appreciation and headed outside. Once we closed the door, Mark exhaled deeply and took a hold of my hand.

"That was absolutely terrifying," he said quickly. "You were right about him looking like a buzzard."

"I said a vulture, Mark," I said, laughing a bit, "And you did great. At least we will be working with this Mr. Edge most of the time instead of him."

I looked back at the business card with my free hand and as Mark continued to take deep breaths. H. Edge was printed on the front in bold bright green lettering with his multiple phone numbers and email addresses underneath. On the right side of the card read:

**Public Relations Mastermind: I Think**

I laughed. "At least this Mr. Edge seems to have a sense of humor," showing Mark this part of the card.

"Yes, that's true," Mark said, finally getting enough of his footing to make it down the hall.

We held hands until we made it to Suite 423. As we got to the door we saw a handwritten sign taped to the doorknob.

_"Needed to get coffee or I will probably not make it through our meeting. You both deserve better than that. Just sit down and get comfortable. I'll be back in 10 minutes._

_Cheers, H.E._

Mark laughed, and looked at me. "Well, I guess we should head inside then?"

He opened the door into a small, but very nice office. It could not have been more different that Mr. Spencer's place. Other than it being much smaller, it was decorated in bright blue paint and there was an amazing mural of an ocean wave on the wall to the left. Beautiful potted plants were sitting by the window, and there was a large fish tank by the large brightly lit window with dazzingly colorful tropical fish swimming.

The chairs that we both sat in were very comfortable, and it was easy to tell by the entire office that whoever this Mr. Edge was he seemed to want to keep people at ease, and I appreciated that.

We sat there for about five minutes when we heard the door open behind us, and a tall man entered the room. I felt my loins lurch for a moment, which startled me more than I expected. The man walking around us was holding a large mug of coffee, and was without a doubt one of the most handsome men that I had ever seen.

His skin was pale, but not nearly as pale as me, which made sense considering that it looked like he surfed. He was wearing a finely tailored blue suit, but his jacket was not on, and his arms looked amazingly toned through his buttoned up shirt. His hair was dark red and wavy, and his eyes, a jawdropping shade of green. He gave both Mark and I a dazzling smile, and after placing his cup of coffee on the desk, held out his hand for us both to shake.

Mark looked like I did, his face looking stunned at how something this sexy just walked into the room unaided by porn music. Seeing that he was momentarily frozen in his chair, I jumped up first, trying my best not to look too eager, and took his hand in mine. "Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Edge."

The man laughed and shook his head. "You must have just seen Theo," he said, releasing my hand. I perked up at the accent. Australian, I was fairly certain. "Always with the formalities with him. It's like I'm stuck in a room with my granddad."

I laughed and agreed.

"I insist on first names, if that is alright with you." he continued, giving me a wink. I felt my knees turning into jelly.

"Yes, absolutely," I said, "I'm Sean, but most people call me Jack. I guestured over to Mark, who seemed to finally be able to speak again. "And this is --"

"Oh I know who that is," the man said, leaning over towards Mark and smiling broadly. "I'd never forget who you are. How are you doing, "Fishbowl"?"

Mark's face looked incredibly confused, but the nickname, if that what "Fishbowl" was, registered with him almost instantly. His eyes grew wide as he got out of his seat and then leaned in, looking at the other man as if he was just finally seeing him properly.

"Hunter?" he asked, slightly dazed. "Is that you?"


	7. "You'll find out how he charmed the pants right off of me."

-Jack's POV-

My brain for the second time today, felt like it had been jump started. We all stood there in the brightly lit office. Mark and Hunter, looking directly at each other, almost silently communicating with their eyes and brow lines.

"Wait a minute," I finally said, and they both turned to look at me. "You're Hunter? As in Mark's college room mate Hunter?"

Hunter smiled and nodded, his brilliant green eyes twinkling as the morning light hit them. "Yes, that's me. So Fishbowl has talked about me to you, Jack?"

He glanced back over to Mark, who was sitting back down, still looking shocked.

"It's nice to be remembered," Hunter continued, "hopefully he didn't talk too badly about me. If he did though, most of it is probably true."

"Your name," said Mark slowly, "It's not Edge. It's..." Mark paused, seeming to be trying to pull a long distant memory from the back of his head.

"Edgewood," Hunter said, smiling and sitting down himself, "The 'wood' part of the surname got chopped off when I went into modelling." He took a large sip of his coffee. "But that wasn't my choice. When you are young and your agency is telling you to do things, you don't question it. The stupid things that they made me do to my body and hair..."

He shuttered, and shook his head. "But that was years ago, but the name kind of stuck after all this time, and I don't have the energy to deal with all that paperwork to change it back. My father is still steamed about it though."

It didn't shock me about the modelling, and as stunned as I was about the whole situation, it was now more clear than ever why Mark slept with him in college. Hunter was almost painfully gorgeous. My feelings were all over the place, melting from admiration for Mark sleeping with someone so attractive, to jealousy that Hunter ever touched him at all, to the severe desire to bang him myself.

"So, you went from modelling to public relations?" I said, trying to break some of the sexual tension in the room. "That is quite a change."

Hunter glanced over at me, his green eyes meeting my blue, and my loins lurched again. "Actually Jack, you'd be surprised. Modelling deals a lot with the public, and I got a 'real world' education on the subject. Plus, it helps that a lot of people don't take models too seriously when it comes to intelligence. I was able to rise up pretty fast in the PR field."

"So, did you study PR in college," I asked, feeling like I needed to keep talking to him.

He glanced back over to Mark, who looked slightly uncomfortable now. "No, I was in engineering with Fishbowl. I took Aerospace though. You were in what again?"

"Biomedical Engineering," Mark said, almost to himself.

"Yes, that was it," Hunter said brightly, turning back to me. "After college I was working in the field as an intern and I got grabbed by a talent scout who was visiting NASA. He gave me a business card and before I knew it I was traveling all over the world. It was fun, but it was too much for a bloke like me to handle."

He scratched the back of his head, looking suddenly bashful.

"At the end of the day, even with expensive suits and bleached teeth, I'm just a space nerd with a love of chocolate chip cookies and black coffee."

My heart skipped a beat.

"You like your coffee black too?" I said, my voice squeaking slightly.

He picked up his mug and looked at me, suddenly serious. "There's no other way to love coffee, Jack. Coffee should always be naked and pure, just like the people who drink it."

_Damn._

"So, I guess we should be talking about the sponsorship at some point," he said, his dimples set deeply in his cheeks as he smiled.

He looked back over to Mark. "So, tell me your thoughts on the best way for me to be involved without stepping on your toes."

"We really have no idea what we are doing, honestly," Mark said, finally sounding more natural. "This is the first time that either Jack and I have done this."

"So you're virgins to this whole process?" asked Hunter, his wink back in full swing. "It's not a huge adjustment, and I'll promise that I'll be gentle with the both of you."

_Jesus._

"Could I get a glass of water?" Mark asked suddenly, as he got up out of his chair.

"Oh, of course," Hunter said, smiling. "There's a mini fridge right in the back corner. Help yourself to whatever you want."

Mark cleared his throat and went to the back to grab a bottle of water, and chugged it down as if his life depended on it.

I tried my best not to laugh, but it was only with a huge amount of effort. I knew Mark was struggling with being in the room with Hunter. Granted I was a bit too with all of the light flirting that was happening. I did want to talk to Mark about this whole situation when we got back to the house. Was Hunter always this attractive, or did this happen after their college days? Should I be concerned at all that Hunter, even after all these years, might still be interested in Mark?

_Could I find a way to see him in just his underwear...just...well, just because holy hell._

"When would be a good time for me to see your office set ups?" Hunter asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"We work from home, so how about this Friday? At 2:00pm?" I asked, glancing over to Mark, who nodded.

Hunter grinned, stood up and walked over to where I was standing. "Great then, consider it a date!" he said slyly, and he reached out my hand and shook it again. "It was a pleasure to meet you Jack, and I didn't get a chance to say it when I first came in the office, but congrats on the engagement."

I thanked him, feeling my face turn red. He placed his other hand on top of mine and pulled me in a bit closer to his face. It was only then that I was surrounded by the smell of wonderful aftershave and noticed the spray of dark freckles that kissed the bridge of his elegant nose.

"I know that you'll take good care of Mark," he whispered to me. "He's a sweetheart, and from what I have seen in past videos with the two of you, he's head over heels for you, mate."

I smiled, feeling my face was completely red at this point. "Mind if I give you a hug, Jack?" he added, seeming to notice my blushing. "Sorry, but I'm a hugger. It looks like you are too."

I giggled and gave him a hug, and yes, toned and firm arms he does have.

"That giggle is adorable, Jack," he said as he pulled away form the hug. "I can see why Fishbowl snagged you up quick."

My grin was ridiculous at this point, and even Mark was smiling at Hunter as he walked over to give Mark a hug as well.

"Let me know if I can be of any help at all before Friday," he said as he walked us to his office door. "The numbers on my card can be called anytime day or night. I live by your motto Jack. 'Sleep is for the weak'!"

He winked at me a final time before closing the door. I grabbed Mark by the arm and pulled him as quickly as I could towards the elevator. He didn't say a word at all, but allowed himself to be dragged fairly easily. Once we got to the elevator I pushed the down button and then looked up at him, my eyes connecting with his.

"Mark, please tell me that you didn't sleep with that handsome and charming suit of muscles in that office when you were in college. It was a different person right? Just with the same face and first name and major and dreamy Australian accent?"

Mark gave out a hollow laugh that did not reach the rest of his face. "No, Bright Eyes," he said slowly, "You just met Hunter. The body is definitely...better, but that is absolutely him."


	8. "You need to explain to me again why you decided to not date him."

-Mark's POV-

_Wow._

My computer monitor was suddenly filled with google images of Hunter. I couldn't believe just searching his name would bring up so many pictures of his modeling days. Pictures of him posing for swimwear, slick Italian suits, activewear...he pretty much was a modeling staple for his agency.

"Wow," I heard from behind me. "Are all those pictures of him?"

I turned around to see Jack's face, glowing slightly from the screen, and sitting down next to me. 

"Yes, they all are," I said, scrolling through the pictures. "I had no idea that he was so well known."

"Well Mark, it's not like you stayed in touch after you left school," he said, laughing, "and he changed his last name anyway."

I looked over to him, and nodded, blushing a bit. "I guess you're right about that."

Jack had taken over the mouse and was clicking on specific pictures now, seeming to be looking for information. He seemed to be taking things incredibly well, and I was thankful that he wasn't freaking out about the whole thing. If this situation had been reversed I'm not sure I would be so calm about everything.

"So, you're sure that you're ok with this?" I asked, wanting some reassurance. "Because you are the only one that matters, babe. If us working with Hunter is going to bother you at all, just say the word and we'll cancel the whole thing."

Jack glanced back at me, his eyes narrowed. "Don't be ridiculous. I trust you, and this sponsorship will be really great for both are channels."

I felt a wave of relief, and pulled him onto my lap and kissed the side of his neck. He giggled and turned his face and gave me a deep kiss on the lips.

"You are amazing," I said softly. "How did I ever get so lucky to end up with you?"

He giggled again. "I could ask you the same thing."

I looked back at the monitor. A picture of Hunter filled the screen, his hair much longer then, wearing tight black pants and a rocker shirt. His hands were in his hips and his eyes were striking, even with the picture being in black and white.

"He really is gorgeous," Jack said, seeing what I was looking at.

"Yes, he was and he is," I said looking back at Jack. "But he isn't you Bright Eyes, and he'll never be you."

His smiled at me and I felt his fingers run through my hair, and pulled me into another kiss. 

"Do you have a bit of time to fool around in the bedroom?" he asked, giving my right thigh a little squeeze.

"If by 'fooling around' you mean 'fucking you silly', then yes, I think that can be arranged." I said, giving his neck a playful nibble.

"Don't make promises you can't keep," he sighed.

I chuckled, and picked him up into my arms, and headed to the bedroom, his giggling in my ears the entire way there.

***

-Jack's POV-

The doorbell rang and I looked at the clock. 1:58pm. Hunter was right on time. Mark was still in the office trying to clear out some space to make sure it looked as nice as possible.

"I'll get it Mark," I said loudly from the kitchen.

"Okay, babe," he yelled back.

I walked over and on the way to the door, I found myself making sure that my hair was flattened down.

What the hell am I doing? Like I should really care what I look like. Hunter is just here as our sponsor. It's not a social call.

_Get a grip!_

I opened the door and my grip loosened immediately. I felt myself groan involuntarily, and considering that his smile got even bigger, I'm pretty sure that he heard me.

Hunter stood at the front door wearing a tight dark red T-shirt, black running shorts and black tennis shoes. The shirt matched his wavy red hair almost too perfectly, and the toned chest and arms were magnificent. His legs and thighs were sculpted and smooth, and his face, relaxed into an easy going spirit that could make actual birds sing.

However it was his eyes that got me really thinking about dirty things. His eyes were almost too bright, and almost too green to be of this world. Like he somehow had been able to turn some magical dial on the side of his perfect head and crank up the saturation of his irises to an eleven.

"You may want to close your mouth, Jackrabbit," he said, giving me his amazing wink. "The bugs in LA are enormous."

I shut my mouth, feeling stupid that it had been hanging open. "Sorry," I said, letting him inside. "I was expecting you to be wearing something...different. I have no idea why I assumed that."

Hunter chuckled as he passed me, and I almost hated myself for checking out his ass.

_Almost._

It was just a toned as the rest of him, which I should not have been surprised at all about.

At least this time when he turned back around I was ready and I wasn't caught. He placed his hands on his hips and did a few stretches.

"Did you just call me Jackrabbit?" I asked, smiling myself.

"I did," he said now bending his knees, "Sorry, mate. Hope you don't mind. I'm kind of fond of nicknames, if you haven't noticed already."

"I had noticed," I said. "Any reason for Jackrabbit, specifically, other than the "Jack" part of my name."

"Sure," he said, his face looking at mine as he continued to stretch, "You're bouncy, and you have amazing facial hair. Plus you're incredibly cute, fast on your feet, and...well..."

He stopped and chuckled to himself.

"Well, what?" I asked, my face feeling as red as his his shirt.

"It's kind of inappropriate, to be honest."

I giggled and took a couple of steps towards him. "You have seen my channel right? I think that I can take a bit of inappropriate."

"I can just tell that you have the energy of a rabbit in bed. No disrespect meant, but you did drag that last part out of me."

I felt that same lurch of my loins.

"I should go get Mark," I said quickly and headed out of the room.

-Mark's POV-

Jack zipped into the room looking like he was in fear of ripping something apart.

"You ok?" I asked, my eyebrows raised.

"No, I am not," he said, slightly breathless. "Hunter is down there in shorts. I think that I need a cold shower."

"He can't look that -"

"Go down there and see for yourself," he said, looking annoyed at my reaction. "I'm surprised that he didn't melt the paint off of our walls with as how hot he looks."

I rolled my eyes and finishing up some final touches, headed downstairs and saw him, his back turned, doing full jumping jacks in our dining room.

_Oh my God._

I looked over at Jack, my eyes wide.

"See?" he whispered. "It should be a crime to look that good in jogging shorts. An actual crime, with like handcuffs and...oh Jesus now I'm imagining him in handcuffs."

Jack turned a bright scarlet color around his face.

I laughed, and making sure that my eyes were still firmly in my head, continued to head down the stairs.

"Hey Hunter," I said as casually as I could. "Using our house as a personal gym? We usually charge for that."

He stopped his jumping jacks and turned around, his face perfect and smile brilliant. "I'll gladly pay the fee, Fishbowl. Especially with all the other gorgeous gym members I get to look at."

He always has been able to one up my jokes. Almost as good as Jack.

_Almost._

"But in all seriousness," he said giving me a hug, "I wore this get up just to see if I could interest you and Jack in a jog before we get to the working. It's been ages since we jogged together. You still a jogger, right?"

"I am," I said smoothly. "Jack, not so much."

"Oh, that's a shame Jack," he said, looking at him. "I assumed that you were, considering your physique. Must be good genetics then...or that bed energy that I was talking about before."

He smiled and winked at Jack again, and Jack's face somehow got even redder.

"So, is it ok if I steal Fishbowl away from you for a bit?" he asked Jack, his green eyes sparking again. "Just for a bit of the college nostalgia?"

"I don't mind, no," said Jack, his voice somewhat higher than usual. "I'll make us all some sandwiches for when you both get back."

"Wow, you cook too, Jackrabbit?" he said, looking impressed. "You're a national Irish treasure!"

_Jackrabbit?_

"I'll head up and get changed," I said. "I'll only be a few minutes."

"I have great company while I'm waiting," Hunter said, his eyes glancing over to Jack again.

Jack looked like he was going to burst with so many compliments in such a short period of time.

I chuckled, and headed back up the stairs, hoping that I had at least something fairly decent to wear for our jog.


	9. "You should've said I have a heart condition. I will die on this run."

-Mark's POV-

"Well it's nice that I got changed quick enough for you two to not be making out in the dining room while I was gone."

Both Jack and Hunter were still standing in the same spots, and chuckled madly.

"Come on Mark," Jack said with a giggle, "I would never make out with anyone without giving you the chance to watch."

"And there's another fantasy to put in the old mind bank," I said, walking over to Jack and giving him a kiss.

"You two are almost painful cute," Hunter said, shaking his head. "Seriously, I need a cuteness shield to protect myself."

"Too late," I said, giving Jack another kiss and hugging him tightly. "You are now contaminated. Most patients die of "cute overload" within the first 24 hours."

"Well I guess we better get a move on with our jog then," Hunter said smiling as he headed towards the front door. "If I'm dying tomorrow I need to make sure I look great in the casket."

Jack giggled and I nuzzled his neck. "I'll text you when we're about ten minutes from the house. Please promise me that you won't make a four course meal."

Jack's smile faded slightly.

"Bright Eyes," I said, narrowing my eyes. "Sandwiches only, ok?"

"Fine," he said grumpily, "but I make no deal as to how much cheese I pump into the bread."

"Understood," I said, and gave him another kiss.

***

"After today I will apologize to Jack," I whispered aloud to myself. "I think my heart may actually explode out here."

We were on our fifth mile, and my brain felt like it was shutting down. Muscles that I didn't think existed were rage punching me all over. I was happy that at least Hunter had a really nice ass, because that's the only thing that I had been seeing for the last mile or so. He was running effortlessly, like a red headed gazelle, while I was heaving and flailing my arms like a wounded buffalo.

"Hunter! Wait!" I gasped, but he was so far ahead of me that there was no way that he could hear me.

He was always able to outrun me, but never to this degree. This entire situation made me feel old and slow and want to just go home and hide in the bedroom and cry. And eat sweets.

Preferably cake.

Thankfully I saw him turn his head tand he finally noticed that I wasn't right behind him anymore. He stopped and waited for me to reach him.

"Sorry about that, Fishbowl," he said as I got close. "Thought you were right behind me. Didn't check in with you. Some running partner I am."

"No," I said, trying and failing to sound like my lungs were on fire. "It's ok. Just let me catch my breath, and we can get going again."

He looked at me with slight concern. "You sure about that? You look like you could use a break,"

"Actually, I think I need a lung transplant at this point, but no pain no gain right?"

"Right," he said, the concern in his face looking even greater. "I don't want to have to deal with the wrath of your fiancé if you fall over on the side of the road. Time to take it slow for a bit."

My mind hated him for this but every muscle in my body was thanking him, and building monuments in his name.

We walked the rest of the way back to the house. We had a great time talking about college days. Once we got about ten minutes from the house I texted Jack.

Me: About ten min away. I think that I'll never ever jog again after today.

He texted back about a minute later.

Jack: No more jogging? Tell Hunter that he is my hero. Hope you two are hungry. I kind of lost my mind with the Cheese Infuser 5000. I clearly don't remember the last half hour.

Me: Jesus, no.

Jack: I think an cheesy intervention is in order.


	10. You're with me, no matter where I am."

-Jack's POV-

"This is amazing," Hunter said, taking another giant bite into his cheese filled sandwich. "I mean it. I don't even care if I look like savage right now. This food is too good for being polite."

I chuckled and looked over at Mark, who also was eating like it was his last meal, his cheeks full to bursting like an oversized chipmunk.

After we ate, we took Hunter up to our office. He looked around at the video equipment and the computer.

"Well," Mark asked after a bit of time, "what do you think?"

Hunter scratched the red stubble on his chin for a moment, and then turned his bright green eyes to Mark.

"The equipment setup you have is outstanding, but...don't you two feel a bit crowded in the room together?"

Mark and I looked at each other, equally taken aback. I couldn't speak for Mark, directly, but I never considered the fact that we may be in each other's way. When I had first come to visit Mark from Brighton he just let me use his office, and we always worked around each other.

But, now that it was said aloud, it would be nice to have my own private space. Then we could pretty much work whenever we wanted to, and not have to worry about bothering the other one.

"We do have the downstairs bedroom," Mark said softly. "Right now it isn't being used for anything other than a storage place."

He looked over to me. "What do you think? Would you want to make that room your office? It's right next to the kitchen. That's your favorite place anyway."

I giggled. "Yes, I think that would be nice. It would help us to definitely get on a better schedule with our videos. Our fans would appreciate that."

"Great, then," said Hunter happily. "When should we start getting you all set up, Jackrabbit? I'm glad to lend my muscles if you need them."

"Yes, please," I said, thankful for the extra help.

Within the next few hours we were able to get all of the storage items and boxes out of the lower bedroom and temporarily in the dining room. Mark and Hunter placed the desk that was in the guest bedroom into my new office. It was a small desk, but it would work until I was able to get something a bit larger.

Hunter was very good at setting up the video gear, and we were able to reuse a lot of pieces of furniture in the guest bedroom so that I had a couple of bookcases and shelves to put things. He finished up around 8pm, and for the most part, I think that we did a great job.

Mark gave me a giant hug after we rolled the extra office chair into the room.

"This is kind of bittersweet," I said to him. "I'm glad to be getting my own space, but I'm going to miss not being in the same room as you all the time.

"You can always visit me, Bright Eyes," Mark said, blushing, "and if you really get lonely, you can always sit on my lap like in my office like old times."

I smiled, and gave him another hug.

"I think that I might do that from time to time."

Hunter left around 7:30pm. He thanked us again for the great time and good food. He also asked Mark for the phone number so that he could buy his own Cheese Infuser 5000.

"You're welcomed to buy ours," Mark said as he walked him to the door. "Only used one time. Jack is finally going into food rehab."

I could hear Hunter chuckle as the door closed.

I walked into my new office and sat down in my office chair. It still needed the Jacksepticeye touch, but all in all, it was really nice.

"You look like you're going to scream at a lot of games in this room," he said from the doorway.

I swiveled around and looked at him, my eyes resting on his handsome face and amazing eyes.

"Yeah, I'm expecting the next door neighbors to complain about the noise," I said, "but hey, they'll get over it at some point right?"

"They haven't said a word since you've been here," he said walking in and holding out his hand. I took it and he pulled me out of my chair and wrapped his strong arms around me. "I doubt that you moving to a different room is going to change that."

"Are you sure that you are ok with this?" I asked him. "Seriously, if you need me to, we can keep everything the way that it was."

He touched his forehead with mine, and sighed. "Sean, I will miss you terribly, but I think that this change that Hunter suggested is a good one for our careers, and our fans. You should be able to do whatever you want in your own space. I know that you have felt uncomfortable with changing things in the office upstairs. "

I nodded my head. He really knew me too well.

"So promise me that you will make this room completely yours. I want to see loud, and funny, and full of all the parts of what makes you wonderfully you all over this place. Will you promise me that?"

I giggled as he nuzzled his nose into mine.

"Yes, I promise."


	11. "You will always be the best part of my day."

-Mark's POV-

I glanced at the time on my phone.

4:25pm.

It was time to wake him up from our nap. The living room television was on, but like always, it was more for background sounds to help us...or more importantly, him...to fall asleep.

_Our usual naptime positions._

Sometimes we would shout these four words as we ran down the stairs, two at a time. Other days they would be whispered into his ear as he leaned heavily on his left arm, trying his best to keep his eyes opened as he stared at the editing screen.

Our naps will always be special. No matter what day of the week, it is the only time we set aside each day to spend completely with each other. From around 2:30pm to about 4:30pm. At times to 5:00pm, depending on how long it took to wake him up.

Jack was always hard to wake up in general. It was never like he was trying to be difficult or grumpy, but with his sleeping pattern all over the place, if he was woken too fast he would be startled, confused, or in some instances that broke my heart into pieces, his blue eyes would snap open, looking terrified.

In the morning in our bed, if I was to wake up before him, I would kiss his cheek, and slowly slide out of the bed, trying to be as quiet as possible so that I would not disturb him. If he needed to wake up for a specific time, I would rub his back or shoulders until he yawned, stretched and wiggled out of the bed and head to the restroom, not looking at me at all until he had washed his hands. I would sit and wait for my morning kisses, and then we would start our day.

But the afternoon naps were what I loved the most.

I was laying on the couch as usual today, on my back and my head resting comfortably on the arm rest. Jack, as usual, was curled up in my arms, his head placed in the middle of my chest, his soft snores dancing with the sounds of my heart beats.

His pajama clad legs and bare feet in between my opened legs.

The pale and slender arms on either side of my torso. The right arm and hand being supported by the couch, and the left arm, hanging delicately off the side. Every so often if I needed to move a little to change the channel, or check my phone, his left arm would sway lightly with my movement, and then become still again.

I would tilt my head down, and kissed the top of his head.

"Bright Eyes," I whispered as softly as I dared, "time to wake up."

He didn't stir at all, his snores still steadily floating right above my soul.

I lifted my arms and slowly touched his narrow shoulders, and using my fingers softly rubbed in small circles. He grunted lightly, and then back to snores.

From his shoulders I would begin to roll my fingers down to his shoulder blades and small of his back, and finally the snores would become gentle sighs and he would nuzzle his small chin and button nose into my chest.

"Babe," I would say slightly louder.

At this point his bottom half would begin to shift around, trying to find new places to find warmth inside the fencing of my legs. He would find a better position, and then would take a fluttery breath as he began to sink back into slumber.

Finally, I would wrap him into my arms, and lift up gently to a sitting position. I would cradle his limp head with my hand to make sure that when we were upright his face and neck would be protected from falling backwards into pain and darkness.

Now, his arms were draped over my arms, hanging lazily, and he would instinctively twist his legs and bend his knees to make sure that he wasn't being bent over too far like a pretzel. He was making muttering noises now. Too softly for me to hear them clearly. I kissed the side of his forehead, and then, adjusting his face slightly up so that I could see his closed eyes and half opened, pink stained lips. I kissed his cheek and rubbed his back with my hands.

His mouth would open and close a few times, and his astonishing eyes, at last, began to open behind long brown eye lashes. I would watch them intently, first just a blue haze of fog and dream filled visions, with pupils so large that it would take your breath away.

Then, slowly, with the rubs on the back and the small kisses on the cheeks and lips, the ocean of his gaze would come to the surface of consciousness. The waves of realization of what I was doing and where he was would crash into the shore of his eyelids until finally, his face would unslacken and his eyes would look into mine, completely connecting back to me.

"And there he is," I would whisper.

That was the moment I lived for than anything else. More than kisses, more than making love, and more than breathing, it seemed.

It was...trust. He trusted me with every part of himself.

Legs, arms, heart, toes...

Every single hair on his body and every puff of air from his lungs were given to me to hold while he left the atmosphere. So that his spirit could soar through the clouds and touch every single drop of stardust before he was needed once more.

To be able to sleep so soundly that the movements around you didn't matter. He was able to know that I would be there while he slumbered, and protect him from anything that could hurt him in the waking world. 

To have the love of my life return to me, every single day.  To feel his body become energized again after helping him to rest. To experience his compassionate eyes slowly focus until he recognized who was holding him up. To relish in the sweet smell of his first notions of feeling safe and secure.

"Good merning, Merk," he would say every time, no matter what time of the day it actually was, his accent so heavy that it sent shivers down my spine.

"Good morning, sunshine," I would answer in return. "Time to get up."

He would nod his head sleepily, and sit up in my lap, his lips finding mine for a soft kiss. Then we would sit there and breath in and out together, with our fingers intertwined, and once he was ready, we would venture off together, to continue the rest of the day renewed.


	12. "You show me your heart, and I'll make you dinner forever.

-Jack's POV-

"Chica?" I whispered.

She yawned loudly and turned her head towards me, but the rest of her furry body stayed sprayed out in the dog bed in the living room.

"Does the puppy want a meatball?"

That seemed to be the magic words. Chica flipped over on all four paws and headed, tail switching madly, towards the kitchen.

I followed her and seeing Mark tapping away on his phone at the table, I raised an eyebrow menacingly.  
His dark eyes glanced up, and recognizing the scowl, smiled weakly and put his phone in his pocket.

"You and I both agreed to just the two of us," I paused, as Chica nuzzled my left hand, "I mean, the three of us only during dinner. Twitter, YouTube and emails can be paused for an hour."

"Sorry, Bright Eyes, I forgot," he said, sounding sheepish.

I smiled and leaning over gave him a kiss on the forehead. "I forgive you, but I can't speak for Chica. She still is waiting for her meatball."

He chuckled as I went over to the saucepan and pulled out the biggest meatball for Chica. She ate it in less than two bites, and then settled down by Mark's legs.

I made two plates of spaghetti and placed sauce and meatballs on top, and placed his on the table and then my own.

"It looks amazing, as always."

"Flattery will get you everywhere," I said slyly.

"That's was the idea," he replied back, squeezing my thigh with his left hand.

I giggled, and took a few bites of dinner before I spoke again.

"Ethan and Tyler said that they would be able to come over tomorrow to help build my new office desk and the couple of book cases that were delivered today."

"That's great. Hunter will be coming by tomorrow morning," Mark said. He paused to look at me closely. "I hope that's ok. He wants to go out jogging again, and then wanted to chat with the two of us about a few new ideas he has for our channels."

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "You don't have to keep checking in with me about hanging out with hot ex boyfriend, Mark. Like I said before, I trust you."

His eyes narrowed slowly. "He's not my ex boyfriend."

"You know what I mean," I said, taking a hold of his hand, and grinning a bit. "I trust and I love you. I'm fine with him being around, and even if I wasn't, his gorgeous face is connected with our sponsor, and -"

"If you weren't ok with it, I would give a damn that he -"

"Mark," I said, my eyes focusing on his face. "I'm just messing with you. What's wrong?"

He sighed, shrugged his shoulders, and looked into my eyes. "I'm not quite sure, honestly. I'm just...really worried about upsetting our relationship with Hunter being around. I mean, he's really fun to joke with, and I hadn't realized how much I've missed chatting with him, but...you're the only one who matters in all of this."

I let go of his hand and shuffled over closer to him. "We both matter in this," I said softly. "I love that you are so worried about my feelings, but please, don't stop having friends. If I start to feel uncomfortable with Hunter, or anything at all, I'll tell you about it. I promise you that."

He smiled and nodded his head. "Ok, as long as you will let me know."

"And you'll let me know if you are uncomfortable with anything too, right?" I asked.

"Yes, of course. Always." he said, as he kissed my cheek.

"Great, so we'll check in with each other about it," I said, shuffling back over to my seat. "You know, like couples in healthy relationships do. Weird concept, huh?"

He laughed, lifting up his glass of water as if in a toast. "To the strangeness of knowing how to communicate with your partner."

I giggled and raised my glass as well. "I'll drink to that," and we clinked our glasses together and continued to eat. "So let finish our food, so I can take you into the shower and bang the hell out of you."

Mark coughed hard on his sip of water, and I patted him on the back. He stared at me.

"What?" I said, smiling broadly. "I'm just communicating to my partner."


	13. "You may have needed to prepare Tyler and Ethan first."

-Mark's POV-

"It probably would be a better idea to have Tyler and I grab that box," I said, looking at Ethan concerned.

Ethan was holding the flat box with both of his arms straining, determination etched in his face but his body losing the battle. Tyler sighed and grabbed the other end of the box and lifted, and both of them carried it the rest of the way towards Jack's office.

I shook my head and hoisted one of the two packages that carried the bookcases in my arms and followed behind them. Jack was happily directing traffic inside of his new space, thanking everyone involved every few moments. His face was sweaty with all of the zipping around the house he was doing, and continued to push food and hugs on any of us who were too slow to see him coming towards them.

I checked my phone, and saw that it was 9:30am, and knew that Hunter had texted that he would be around by 10:00am at the latest. I already had a pair of black sweatpants and a white t-shirt on, which both came in handy since I already was getting a workout just moving boxes and other furniture to wherever Jack pointed.

"Is he really that good looking?" I heard Ethan ask as I headed toward the office.

Jack giggled. "Yeah, he's pretty much redheaded heart stopper," he replied. "And the accent doesn't make him any less incredible."

"I can talk like 'em too," I said as I walked in, doing my best Australian accent. "G'day mate! Let's put a few shrimp on da barbie!"

Everyone in the room laughed, myself included.

My god that accent was horrible.

"That accent was horrible." said Jack, apparently reading my mind. "Besides, most Australians don't say 'G'day' or 'shrimp on the barbie' at all, Crocodile Dundee."

"I'll take the Crocodile Dundee comparison as a compliment. That man could rock a leather vest like no one else."

"That's because no one else would ever want to," Tyler said, smirking.

Everyone laughed again.

"Jesus, Tyler," I said, a mock look of betrayal on my face. "I thought that we were friends."

The doorbell rang.

"That'll be the angels announcing the green eyed Adonis now," said Jack, fanning himself dramatically with his hand.

Everyone else chuckled as I rolled my eyes and headed to the door, hearing three sets of feet fairly close behind me.

"Seriously, you guys," I sighed, looking over at them standing and waiting to check Hunter out. "You all are just horrible. The man isn't just a piece of meat to be gawked at."

"Then it's his parent's fault for making him look that way," said Jack, smiling. "You should be chastising them, and not us. Now, enough talking. Open the door so that we can all drool properly."

Tyler and Ethan were beside themselves with muffled laughs at this point, and shooting them all a dirty look, I opened the door.

Hunter was wearing a dark pair of blue jeans today, along with a form fitted forest green shirt, and sunglasses. His hair was parted on the side, and he was holding a small gym bag in his toned right arm.

I am pretty sure that I heard a gasp come from directly behind me.

"Hey Hunter," I said, giving him a big hug. "Nice to see you. Don't mind the peanut gallery behind me. They all wanted a chance to say hello to you apparently, right as you first arrived."

Hunter chuckled softly, and patted me on the arm, and the turned to look at Tyler, Ethan and Jack who all surged forward to say hello. Jack made it over to him first, and gave him a hug.

"Always nice to see you, Jackrabbit," Hunter said, his dazzling smile in full affect. I hear a gasp again, and this time was able to see that it was Ethan who had made that same noise a few moments before. Hunter didn't seem to miss the audio from Ethan either, as he turned his full attention to him.

Ethan's eyes were wider than I had ever seen them before, seeming to be doing everything that his eyeballs could physically do to make sure that he could see as much as Hunter as possible. Hunter put down his bag and walked right up to Ethan, and I could see Ethan's mouth fall open slightly.

"Well, hello there," Hunter said. He leaned over, his tall frame making Ethan, who already was fairly short, look even smaller. Hunter reached up and pulled off his sunglasses to reveal his brilliant emerald eyes and looking straight into Ethan's blue eyes, which got unbelieveabley even larger as he stared up at him.

"And what might your name be?" Hunter said, his voice low and accent melting the air around us.

Ethan's already opened mouth dropped even lower, and almost in an attempt to stop the visual eye groping that was happening, Tyler surged forward and lifted Ethan's jaw up gently with his hand. Ethan's mouth clicked back in place with an comical sound.

"His name is Ethan," Tyler offered, his dark blue eyes narrowed. "And I'm Tyler. His boyfriend."

Hunter was not phased at all by this information it seemed, and looked back over to Ethan again. "It's a pleasure to meet you Ethan," he said raising his hand for a handshake.

Ethan's lifted his hand slowly to be taken, his wide eyes still looking transfixed on Hunter's face. After the handshake Hunter turned back to Tyler, who at this point was glaring at him like a guard dog looking at a suspicious looking shadow.

"Nice to meet you as well, Tyler," Hunter said, his face not showing the least bit of concern at the way that Tyler was acting.

They shook hands with each other, Tyler's muscles looking tense, and then Hunter walked back over to me.

"Hope you don't mind me changing here, Fishbowl," he said brightly. "Wasn't sure if we were jogging first or going over channel ideas. It's hard to take me seriously when I'm bare legged and all."

Another gasp from Ethan, and Tyler's eyes bore into Hunter so hard, I was sure that his head might actually catch on fire.

"Maybe we should talk about channel ideas first, in your office Mark?" Jack asked, also noticing the look on Tyler's face.

"Good idea," I said quickly.


	14. "You'll be glad you stayed upstairs. The awkwardness was epic."

-Jack's POV-

"You want us to do what?" Mark said, his facial expression incredibly puzzled.

"I didn't stutter, Fishbowl," Hunter said, his white teeth blinding. "I think that both you and Jackrabbit need to get some professional photos done. It will be great for both of your websites, not to mention YouTube and  **Small Talk**."

Mark stared at him, looking somewhat uncomfortable.

"I think that it's a good idea," I said looking over to Mark. "It's been forever since either one of us have had updated photos."

Hunter patted me on the back, giving me a wink. "That a boy, Jack!"

We both looked back over to Mark.

"Please Mark?" I asked, clasping my hands together and giving him puppy dog eyes.

Mark groaned at my face. "Fine," he said after a moment. "Just as long as it doesn't go to overboard with giant fans and I refuse to do any waxing."

"I can guarantee that neither one of those things will happen to you," Hunter said with a smile. He leaned over to me. "Thanks for the assist there Jack. I may need that adorable pout of yours on a couple other channel suggestions I have as well. Keep it handy for me, will you?"

"No problem," I said, smiling back.

"I'll get it all set up within the next week. Nice thing about being an ex model is that you keep in touch with brilliant photographers. I already have a few in mind that would give their right arm to work with Markiplier and Jacksepticeye."

I blushed a bit. "You don't mean that."

"Yes I do, Jackrabbit," he said, and his wink was far from getting tiring. "You both are gorgeous. About time your fans got to see you in the best lighting possible. You ready to head out for our jog, Fish? I'm done boring us all with work, unless there was something else you both wanted to talk to me about."

"No, I think we are good for right now," Mark said. He looked over to me. "We'll only be gone for about an hour, and then I can help with getting your new furniture set up."

"Take your time," I said, giving him and hug. "Tyler and Ethan are both here to help me if I need it."

"Yeah," Mark said, looking over to Hunter again. "About Tyler down stairs. That got pretty awkward, and -''

Hunter chuckled loudly, and put up his hand to stop Mark from saying anything else. "No problem, mate. It's not the first time I been snarled at like that. Tyler's just making sure that I stay on my side of the fence. I don't take it personally."

Both Mark and I looked astonished at his lack of any worry at all.

"Just give me some time with "the Tiger", and I'm sure we'll be the best of pals."

"The Tiger?" Mark and I said together.

"Sure," said Hunter, smiling even more so that his dimples truly looked heavenly. "I think it's a fitting nickname for him, especially the way he looked like he was wanting to rip my throat out."

Mark made a sound somewhere between a laugh and a grunt of severe concern.

Hunter gave Mark a look of reassurance and grabbing his bag began to head out of the office. "Where's a good place that I can change?"

"There's a bathroom in the guest bedroom," Mark said. "The door closest to the staircase."

With a final smile and a wink, Hunter turned left and disappeared.

"Am I the only one worried about Tyler taking a punch at Hunter's perfect face," I asked, looking at Mark. "Because I'm pretty sure that there will be rioting on multiple continents if that was to happen."

"Either way," Mark replied, running his fingers through his hair, "We better keep an eye on the two of them, just to make sure things stay civil."

***

-Mark's POV-

I could tell from the looks on both Tyler and Ethan as I went back down the stairs that they had not been having the most comfortable of talks while the rest of us had been upstairs. Tyler's jaw looked incredibly tense and his arms were crossed. Ethan's face slightly red and a very firm frown was on his face.

"So, are you guys doing ok?" I asked, trying to keep the tone of my voice casual.

"Oh, we're fine," said Ethan's voice, somewhat strained, but still able to push his lips into a small smile.

Tyler just grunted. His eyes looking back over to the staircase every so often, as if he was waiting for the moment when Hunter would be coming back down.

I grabbed Tyler by the arm and pulled him closer the kitchen. "Ty," I said slowly, forcing his gaze away from the stairs. "Before you go into "Tyler Kill Mode", just listen to me for a second, ok?"

"Did you see the way he was looking at Ethan?" Tyler asked, his eyes slightly terrifying. "Like he was going to throw him over his shoulder and fuck him in the back of his...wait, what kind of cars do douche bags drive?"

"Rolls-Royces usually, but that really isn't the point." I said, trying to keep Tyler from going to jail on assault charges. "Hunter is not going to try anything with Ethan."

"How are you suppose to know that?" he asked, looking at me with fire in his eyes. "He got into your pants."

"It was way more complicated than that, Ty," I said, feeling slightly hurt by what he said. "You should at least trust Ethan, if not my judgement."

Mentioning Ethan seemed to calm him down a bit, and his face softened. "You're right," he said. "I won't punch him. His chiseled jaw would break my hand anyway."

I sighed in relief.

"But," he continued, "I trust Ethan, not him."

"Well, at least I won't be needing to mop blood off of the floor. At least not today."

There was an echo of footsteps on stairs, and then a familiar gasp.

Tyler's eyes became wary again.

"Ty," I whispered. "He works for our sponsor. Please be cordial."

We walked back and rounded the corner to the dining room area. Tyler seemed to be taking my begging to heart, and didn't lunge towards them. Hunter was leaning casually on the wall nearest the stairs, with Ethan standing next to him. Ethan's voice was light pitched and fluttery, and his cheeks a bright red color.

He was looking positively doe eyed at Hunter, his face seeming to take in every part of Hunter's work out clothing. Light blue shirt, white jogging shorts and light blue and white sneakers.

"You sound like you would be great on the channel," I heard Hunter saying to Ethan, as Tyler and I approached them. Hunter looked over to us and stood up straight and smiled brightly.

"Ethan was just telling me about how he's been helping both you and Jack on your channels, Mark," he said. "Been doing a lot for you two, by the sound of it."

Ethan's face was completely red at this point.

"Yes, he has been a great asset to the two of us," I said, looking back at Ethan fondly.

"Yes, I can tell," Hunter replied. "Took a bit of time to get him to admit to that. Your boyfriend is a humble little roo, isn't he Tiger?"

"Tiger?" asked Tyler, his frown back in place.

"Hunter gave you a nickname, Tyler," said Ethan looking positively beside himself with glee. "Isn't it great?"

I tried my best not to smile too much at the look of pure conflict on every part of Tyler's face. He hated the nickname, as it was obvious to tell, but his coldness was melting away by the happy glow in Ethan's eyes.

Seeming to weigh the "pros" and "cons" quickly, Tyler's mouth made I think was supposed to be a smile, but looked more like severe constipation.

"Yes, it's great," he said stiffly.

"Glad you like it Tiger," Hunter said loudly, slapping his hand on a Tyler's back and giving him a hug.  Tyler looked mutinous, but just sighed at the squeaky cuteness of Ethan watching them hug.

"Ready to head out, Fish?" Hunter asked, looking back at me.

"Absolutely," I said, giving a final glance over to Tyler and Ethan. Ethan smile was so big at this point I was fairly certain that he would start to float off the ground with all his delight. Tyler was grimacing like he was just told that he would never eat solid food ever again.

We'll be back in about an hour," I said as we left through the door. I would make a point of texting Jack to make sure the house was still standing by the time that we returned.


	15. "You know, we should charge people for all the sexiness that happens here."

-Jack's POV-

Mark: You may want to keep an eye on the two of them while we're gone. I'd like both of them to stay a happy couple. At least until after the wedding.

I looked up from the text message back to Tyler and Ethan. Both of them seemed to be doing everything that they could be doing to not make eye contact with each other. Tyler was working with me on the desk while Ethan was dusting the newly built bookcases.

Every once in a while Tyler would glance over to Ethan when he knew that his back was turned, as if he wanted to at least connect with some part of him, even if it was just the back of his head.

"Thanks again for all your help," I said, trying to break through all of the silence.

"We're glad to help," Ethan said reaching down to the ground to grab a few more items for the shelf. "Your office is looking more like you every second."

I smiled and nodded.

"I'm planning on painting the walls a bright green color like my mascot Sam. Do you think that's too much?"

"That would be amazing!" Ethan squeaked happily, his hands clapping together.

"Yeah," said Tyler, joining the conversation. "Ethan's right. You're room is going to be cool.

Ethan caught Tyler's eye and they both turned back to what they were doing. Ethan's face turned slightly pink around the cheeks again and Tyler cleared his throat as he put on the final leg of the desk.

I stood up and looked over to the two of them. "I'm grabbing myself a cold drink. Anything for either of you?"

"An ice water would be great," Ethan said, giving another small smile.

"Same," said Tyler, looking at the desk assembly instructions again.

I grabbed a couple of bottles of water from the fridge and headed back to the office. Feeling my phone buzz, and paused and checked my text messages.

Mark: We'll be back in about 15 minutes. How's the grumpy couple doing?

I walked to my office quietly and glanced inside. Tyler was standing up now holding Ethan in his arms. They were leaning against the bookcase and kissing each other. Their eyes both closed, Tyler"s large hands around Ethan's waist. Ethan was standing on his tiptoes to make sure to fully reach Tyler's lips.

I smiled, and slipped back out in the hallway again.

Me: Doing better. They're almost treating my new bookcase like the guest room bed.

Mark: Wait, what? Isn't your bookcases finished? Are they fucking standing up or something?

Me: Practically. I'll stop them before any more of our furniture falls victim to their passion.

I waited a couple of moments and then walked back inside, coughing loudly. They both stopped kissing quickly, Ethan looking somewhat dazed and embarrassed.

"Sorry to interrupt you two," I said, smiling a bit. "At this point you both probably really need this water."

"Yeah, actually," Ethan said blush in full force again. "Sorry about that."

"No problem," I said. "It's just something about our house that brings out the raw emotions."

"Tell me about it," Tyler muttered, looking over at Ethan.

***

"You did an amazing job," I said, looking at the paint color. "It's a perfect match to the green color of Sam!"

Mark gave a bashful smile, and ran his fingers through his hair. "The praise should really go the painting associate. She was the one who did the color matching."

I walked over from the dining room table to Mark, and gave him a big hug. "Well, thank you to both of you then. For being so wonderful..."

I leaned in and gave him a kiss, feeling his deep chuckle in the back of my throat. "Anything for you, Bright Eyes."

He gave my ass a quick squeeze. "And since she's not here, can I have the thank you kiss that you owe the lady at the paint store, too?"

I giggled, and we kissed again. I felt myself moan as his warm hands reached under the bottom of my shirt, and blunt nails scratched the small of my back. I pushed him back a few steps to the wall, our lips still sliding with the curves of our mouths. I touched his chest and took hold of his shirt and another groan escaped from inside him. Then I could feel fingers groping at the zipper of my jeans, and I giggled, and pulled away from the kiss.

His face looked momentarily dazed.

"We both promised each other that type of celebrating would happen after my office was finished, remember?" I said, kissing his cheek and heading back over to the dining room table.

"Firstly, you so started that," he said.

"Mature as always," I replied.

He smirked. "And secondly, why was the thank you kiss for her so much hotter than the one for me?"

I rolled my eyes, and grabbed the paint cans. "Because she's the one who actually made up the paint, silly."

He raised an eyebrow at me.

"I get rewarded once the painting is done?"

"Absolutely," I said, heading to the office with the paint. I turned around and looked back at him. "Well, are you coming?"

"I was until you pulled away from me," he said smoothly, "but I'll forgive you this time."

"You are too good to me," I said dryly. "Into the office please? The color of your supposed blue balls will compliment the green."


	16. "You're able to take control."

-Jack's POV-

(A/N this is a lemon chapter)

I giggled as I looked over at him. His nose and right cheek was smeared with green Sam Septiceye paint, and he had absolutely no clue.

He raised his dark eyebrows at me, a look of adorable confusion in his dark brown eyes.

"You're looking at me like I have food on my face," he said.

"No, it isn't food," I giggled as I walked over to him. "But you do wear that paint almost as well as my office walls."

I rubbed at his right cheek with my left thumb, but the paint was being stubborn.

"No luck," I said, putting my arms around him. "You'll be partially green for the rest of your life. I'll have to call of the wedding and find a new love. It's a shame. I was just getting used to you snoring."

"You snore louder than I do," he replied, hugging me tightly. "And no way you're calling off the wedding. Both of our families will hunt you down."

We both laughed, and I kissed his non green cheek. "Fine, then at least let's get both of us into the shower and cleaned up."

"That sounds like a wonderful idea," he said softly. "But first, Mr. McLoughlin, does the new paint meet with your approval?"

I turned to look at my new office. Bright green on every wall, blue bookcases and desk. Fuzzy green shag area rug ticking our toes.

"Just perfect," I said, looking into his eyes.

"Are you talking about the office, or me?" he asked.

"Yes," I answered, and placed my hand on the back of his head and pushed him into another kiss. "So, are you ready for that shower?"

He grabbed each of my thighs and pulled up until I was straddling his hips. "What do you think?" he asked smoothly.

I giggled and wrapped my arms around his neck and tightened my legs around his waist, and once I felt firmly secured he carried me through the house and up the stairs to the bedroom. He laid me down gently on the bed, and kissed me gently as I began to unbutton and unzip his pants and my pants.

We parted to finish taking off our clothes and giggling madly we headed for the shower. I felt his fingers around my midsection as we made it into the bathroom. I was able to get the shower started and as the water warmed up, he held me close and kiss me neck.

Humming into him ear I grabbed his toned ass into my hands and grabbed him hard. He gasped at the feeling.

"Mark," I said quietly.

"Mmmm?"

"Tonight, can we try something a little different?"

He looked at me as he continued to kiss my chin and jawline.

"Anything for you," he moaned softly. "What do you want me to do for you?"

I felt my skin tingle at his words, so low in his throat. Mark was so gentle and caring when we made love. Always making sure that I was comfortable and safe. It was what made me fall more in love with him each and every day.

But still, I wanted us to explore past what made us who we were. Over a year we had been making each other laugh, making each other warm meals and making each other climax in so many waves that we wouldn't remember actually falling asleep afterwards. We had experimented a little with some light ropes and toys, but nothing too far from just our own parts of each other.

I've loved spontaneous since even before I was with him, and though I would not trade one moment with him for a lifetime of spontenaty, I wanted to try something...different.

"Babe?" he asked again, his kisses slowing down, and his eyes searched mine. "You stopped talking to me. Everything ok?"

I breathed in, connecting back to the moment. I was thinking too hard, trying to find the best way to tell him that I needed him to be more forceful. More aggressive. To take charge and not always feel the need to ask to want me. To not hesitate that I may not want him to consume me completely as his own.

"Sorry," I said softly, taking my fingers and wrapping around his firm member and beginning to stroke. "I was just finding the words to say how I need you."

His worried eyes softened and rolled back slightly from the motion of my rubs, his hot moan escaping from his mouth and hitting my neck like fireworks.

"Oh...God, Sean.." he groaned, his arms wrapping around me tightly in his arms. "Can we get in the shower now, please?"

There is was again. The asking for permission. The sweetness that I loved so much of the time that every so often made me want to sigh in exasperation.

"Bright Eyes," I said still stroking him as my lips found his sweet spot by his right ear, "you don't always have to ask me what you can do every time. Just do what you think will feel good. Just do what you want with me."

He sighed heavily, and I felt his hands groping desperately for the door to the shower. "Is that what you want?" he asked, his eyes half lidded.

I nodded and stroked him faster. "Yes, I do want that. I want you to do whatever you want to me, to us, until we both cum."

He kissed me hard and we both stepped into the shower. The water felt wonderful on the back of my neck and head as he pushed me to the back of the shower. I gasped at the coldness of the tiles when my shoulder blades hit, and Mark paused at the noise.

"Are you all - "

"Yes," I said, trying not to have my frustration be heard. "I'm fine baby, please stop worrying about me."

"Ok." he said softly, and he lifted up my right leg and angled his member, now rock hard near my entrance, and pushed in.

"Ohhhhh my God," I groaned as he fully slid inside of me. He grabbed my hips and pushed me downwards and I yelped as he pounded me until our bodies connected to the hilt.

"Fuuuck," I heard him say, his fingers digging in deeper into my skin, and I could actually feel the deep scratches in the soft parts of my right thigh. "Sean, you feel..so good."

My mind was fuzzy with all of the warmth and thrusting, and I could feel myself getting closer. He was really taking over. He was really trying to make me his, and it felt amazingly new and different. He was digging hie nails into me even more, but I didn't care. I was too lost in the the fog of the moment.

Then, as I went to take a hold of his length again, he slowed down, and then stopped.

I opened my eyes, and felt my eyes squint back again from the harshness of the bathroom light. The shower was falling in streams over his broad shoulders and muscled back. His head was down, his hair being soaked by the cascading water.

He was looking at something on my thigh, but what?

"Mark?" I asked, placing both of my hands on the sides of his face. "Why did you stop?"

He lifted his head, his dark brown eyes full of tears and his expression, looking horrified.

"I hurt you," he said, so soft that I could barely hear him. "You're bleeding."

"What?" I said, confused. He had been scratching me pretty hard, but a few marks were fine. He pulled out of me completely, and I raised up my thigh to see what he was talking about. As I checked he took a step or two back, and covered his chest with his arms. The shower water was still hitting the top of his shoulders and arms like rain.

It wasn't nothing at all. There were three fairly large fingernail lines in the inside of my thigh. It stung a bit, but not something that should be scaring him so much. I looked up to tell him that I was fine, and even had part of a joke to call him Wolverine when my eyes met his again, and my heart twisted. His body was shaking as he looked back at me. His eyes full of pain.

"Oh, my god," he whispered. "I hurt you. I'm so sorry, Sean. I don't know what happened. I...I just lost control."

"Hey, it's ok," I said, taking a step towards him. "I'm fine. It's just a few scratch marks."

He shook his head "no" and opened the shower door.

"Mark?" I said, looking at him stunned.

"Please...why are you leaving?"

He didn't look at me, and he closed the shower door back. In the misty glass I saw his blurry form grab a towel from the sink area and open and close the bathroom door.

I finished washing up quickly, and headed back into the bedroom. The room was completely dark, and the only light at all was coming from the street light outside. I was able to just see enough in one of the dresser drawers to pull out boxer and pajama pants. Walking over slowly, I saw him laying on his side of the bed, his face turned away from me.

"Mark?" I called out quietly, and he stirred a bit in the covers.

I touched his leg as I crawled in bed with him, and I could hear his breath catch in his throat, and then a quiet sob.

"No, no," I said, the broken pieces of my heart catching in my throat. "Please don't cry. It'll be ok. You didn't hurt me. It felt good, Bright Eyes."

If anything, my words seem to make things worse.

"I can't do what you wanted," he cried as he turned over and hugged me. His face in the middle of my chest, his tears so hot on my skin. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I tried so hard, but I can't do it. I need you to have control over us. I can't do it."

I was only understanding half of the words, between the crying and mutters, but his message was heartbreakingly clear.

_He doesn't trust himself to let go._

I cradled him to my chest as he cried and cried until finally his grip on my body and heart loosened and he drifted off into what I hoped with all of my soul were much more pleasent dreams.


	17. "Your heartbeat is the only lullaby I need."

-Jack's POV-

It feels like I'd been awake so much longer than I have been. His head was still resting on my chest, his breathing finally relaxed. The palms of his hands rested on my thigh, seeming to either be protecting, or perhaps hiding the three deep scratches from last night.

Tear stains surrounded the area of my shirt where his face was, mouth relaxed and slightly opened. I took my fingers and rubbed his broad shoulders as he slept. He flinched at the touch, his brow furrowed, but soon he was calm again.

I spent most of the last two hours trying to make sense of what had happened last night. Going over the words and actions in my own head, to find out what went so wrong and when it moved from a new way to have fun to the person I love more than anything sobbing into my arms.

_"Tonight, can we try something a little different?"_

I sounded coy, almost playful. At least I thought that I did.

_"Anything for you. What do you want me to do for you?"_

He was being receptive. Romantic. Wanting nothing but to do whatever he could to make me happy.

Maybe that was the first mistake. He wasn't looking at me as a conquest, but as a treasure. Something to carry in his firm and tanned fingers, beautiful and remarkable. I needed to be cared for and admired.

This feeling of him seeing me as fragile was not a new feeling. When we first made love all of the gentleness had been so appreciated, but now, I almost resented it at times.

Was that the feeling I had? Resentment for him not believing that I could handle his strength and fierceness? Just because I was on the receiving end of the hard thrusts of his hips didn't make me less...masculine.

We had talked about the labels before. That our sex was about making each other feel wanted and loved. That it didn't matter the pitch of our moans or the tone of our sighs. It was about us moving as one heart and one mind.

I could feel myself getting angry at both of us. Him for seeing me as a delicate flower and for me so easily accepting that role. I wanted to be grabbed and held down sometimes. For him to respect that I had muscle and bone underneath the soft paleness of my skin.

_"Babe? You stopped talking to me. Everything ok?"_

It was ok. We were ok. Stop needing to fucking protect me.

He stirred in my arms, and I realized that I was tensing my arm muscles. I relaxed my body at once and he groaned, his face smooth and lips parting as if awaiting a gentle kiss.

The morning sun was insistent now, creeping through every opening within the bedroom, and helping his eyes to finally open up to look at me.

"Good morning, Mark," I whispered, and I waited as his mouth opened wide in a yawn, and his arms and legs shook off the remains of the previous night.

He blinked up at me twice, his expression downcast, but bracing for the next inevitable words.

"We needed to talk about what happened."

He looked back at my thigh, and touched the the redness of my skin with his hands. The area looked a lot worse than it felt, but I flinched at the pressure. He glanced back at my face, his expression terrified of hurting me further, and he retreated his hands to wrap around my waist instead.

"I'm sorry," he muttered, his hug as tight as the one he gave before he cried himself to sleep. "If you want to hold off on...the -"

His lips were forming "wedding" but the word was refusing to push past the the resting place of his jaw.

" - moving in. Hold off on moving in." he seemed to settle on instead.

"I want to move in with you," I said, kissing his forehead. "I love you so much. We can take it slow with you taking more control, if that's what you need, ok?"

"I love you too," he replied, his voice trembling, "I don't know what I would do if you...I need you so much, Sean. I'll do anything to fix this."

"I've thought about it," I said, taking his chin in my hand and lifting his face up to meet mine. "A safe word? We can try a safe word for rougher sex. Would you be ok...with trying that with me?"

He sat up and wrapped me in a hug, his face nuzzling my neck and shoulder. "Yes, of course. We can try that. I'm just so relieved that you want us to try again."

I looked at him, confused.

"Why would you think anything other than that?"

He looked at me, his eyes almost pleading for me to ask a question that he wanted to finally answer.

I took a deep breath, and pushed a tear away from his cheek with my thumb.

"Who hurt you?"

He lowered his dark brown gaze to my hands, and understanding, I reached for his fingers and interlaced them with mine.

He took a breath, and then another, and when he was ready, his fingers tighten around mine, and looked back into my eyes.

"It was Hunter."


	18. "You can always talk to me, no matter what has happened."

-Mark's POV-

His beautiful eyes widened slightly at the name, and then narrowed quickly is confusion and concern.

"Hunter? What? Why?" then seeming to realize so many questions being asked at once, he swallowed and paused. His hand became tighter. "Please, whatever you can tell me, I'm here for you."

I closed my eyes and nodded, my heartbeat fast in my chest and ears. It was like unearthing a long buried memory, the smell of it filling my nostrils with regret and decay.

"We were such good friends," I began. "Once upon at time I could have honestly said that I loved him as much as Wade, or Tyler...or Bob. Then came the first night. It was nice. The hangover was horrible. One of the worse ones I ever had but, we really enjoyed the night, and each other."

I looked up, and he was sitting cross legged, watching me, and listening intently. Not pushing me. Waiting until I wanted to continue.

"He topped me," I continued. "I was fine with it. I didn't know what the hell I was doing anyway. He took charge, and I loved that about him. I...wasn't completely opened about everything with you. We did only have sex twice. Really drunk sex, but we did a lot more sexual things. A whole lot."

I didn't look up at his face this time, afraid of what his expression would silently call me.

_Easy? Slutty? Whorish?_

"We were crazy and young and reckless back then," I continued. "We would make out in the bathroom stalls during breaks in our courses. Blow jobs in our cars. It was exciting, and sexy. He pushed me to do more and I willingly followed. I trusted him. That was my fault, and I paid for it one day, when I made an incredibly stupid agreement. He bought me a gift of red vibrating underwear. He knew that red was my favorite color. He showed me how it worked and had an idea for some fun. You've probably noticed from the one time when you played with my entrance...I'm really sensitive. It doesn't take much to make me orgasm."

I blushed and chanced another look up into his eyes. He smiled slightly at the remembrance of the night that he fingered me, and nodded.

"We had one of our core engineering classes together. I would wear the underwear and after the class was over, we'd sneak into the teacher's lounge off the hall. The teachers would be gone for about an hour, and fool around, and he would use the remote to...you know."

He nodded again, seeming to understand what I was eluding to that day.

"I agreed to it, though I was somewhat hesitant. Hunter talked me into it. It wasn't hard though. You have seen how he can talk to you. He just knows what to say to make you feel comfortable with so many things. Like you're the most important and attractive person in the world. It's...almost like a drug. At least that's how it felt back then,"

I could feel the day coming back to my mind fully now. I seemed so young back then, and we giggled as we were in class, horny, and desperate for our professor to finish the lesson so that we could get out of there.

"We sat across from each other that day, which was odd. We usually sat next to each other. That should have been a clue that something was off, now that I think about it."

I shook my head. "Anyway, we were about halfway through the lesson, and our teacher asked me to come up to the board and go over some equations. I got up and began to write on the board, and then..."

I couldn't continue. My throat closed up, and I felt like I was going to drown.

"He used the remote, didn't he?" he asked, his hand touching my face.

I nodded, thankful that he said it instead. "The feeling was incredible but...I was in front of all those people, and my professor. It took all I had not to buckle or run out of the room. I ended up...I climaxed right there, in the middle of a fucking equation. No one but him seemed to know it. After I got finished with the the problem on the board I excused myself from the class, and went to the bathroom. I cleaned up and threw the god damned thing in the trash."

"Oh my god, Mark," he said, his eyes were full of tears.

"I just sat in the bathroom and cried for a long time. Once I was able to get a hold of myself I drove back to the apartment."

"What did he say when you saw him again?"

I laughed weakly. "He honestly seemed confused as to why I was so upset. He didn't get why I wouldn't have wanted that. What could be more of a rush then orgasming with people watching? I think after the shouting match and my fist punching through the hallway wall that he realized it a bit more."

"Did you two ever do anything after that?"

"Yes," I said, feeling slutty again. "We had sex one more time. About a month later. All the other sexual contact had stopped before the last time. He occasionally would try something, but he didn't push me for anything. Our friendship was strained, and he apologized that night. He said that he missed me, and I missed him too. The month between the classroom and that night was so rough, and I wanted to forgive him. Trust would never happen again, but I wanted us to be friends, so very much."

"It started out as him apologizing for what has happened, and that time, it really seemed like he understood how much it hurt me. He was in tears, and...I was confused, and missed him. Plus the drinking didn't help."

Jack reached out a hand and rubbed my back as I paused, looking for more courage to continue. His warm touch gave me the gentle nudge to go on.

"We had sex again. It was so fierce and so passionate. It was no where near what happens when we make love, but back then, it was the most intense feelings I ever had with anyone. After we finished, he asked me if we could go out on a date. He said that I deserved to be romanced properly."

My brain was tired of the memory, the smell of it, but I needed to finish.

"I agreed. Honestly I really don't know why I did. Maybe I thought that I might have somehow loved him, or maybe it was the haze of hormones after the sex, but I agreed to the date. My god, Sean, it was so awkward. He really did try to show me that he cared. That he had wanted us to be more, but, like I told you before, there was no spark. Then after he told me after our second date that he...was in love with me, I just panicked. You know the rest after that. I told him it was a distance issue, and then we lost touch after I dropped out of college."

I took another breath, and he was still there. Still holding my hand and rubbing my back. He didn't run or judge me or hate me.

"You were very brave to tell me about that," he said softly. "Thank you for trusting me with something that painful."

"I trust you more than anything, Sean," I said simply. "I guess I just never realized how much that day in class affected how I view control. I need to get better. I want to do so many things with you that need me to get past that day."

"And we will get past it, together," he said, leaning his forehead against mine. "Maybe we can talk to Dr, Barnes? She may be able to help too."

"Yes," I said, "I'm so glad that you're here with me, through all of this."

Another question was hanging in the air, and it seemed that neither one of us wanted to reach up and pluck it from the thickness between us.

Finally feeling brave, mostly because of him, I asked the needed question. "So, what do we do about Hunter, now that all of this is known?"

Jack sighed, and kissed my lips before answering the question.

"It is up to you in the end, but if you are able to, I think that we don't let something that he did destroy our lives anymore. We give him another chance. It was years ago, and he may have changed."

Jack was right. He was always right.

"You miss him as a friend, and you're in a different place now. You aren't a confused 20 year old kid anymore. Besides, he is connected with both of us professionally as well."

"I am able to do that," I said. "Talking about it has made me feel like we can be friends again. I really think that we can try."

"Then let's try?" Jack asked, a smile finally appearing on his lips again.

"Yes, I think so," I said, and I felt my own familiar smile return as well.


	19. "You're welcome." (insert Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson jokes here)

-Jack's POV-

I tapped my fingers on the kitchen table, my stomach growling."

"Mark?" I said loudly, "I'm about to just eat lunch without you in a minute."

Silence.

_Groan._

I eyed the two plates of burger and fries in front of me. Five more minutes, and then it's every man for himself.

I catch the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs.

_Thank goodness._

I stood up to meet him in the hall, already with a sarcastic comment prepared as to how he much he was making my stomach suffer from lack of proper nutrition. He rounded the corner, only wearing dark blue jogging pants. He was moving fast towards me, a smirk on his lips and his dark brown eyes looking almost predatory.

I raised my eyebrows as he came closer.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked, backing away a tiny bit. "It's just hamburgers and -"

My words were cut off by his lips colliding into mine. His hands wrapped around my midsection firmly, and feeling a rush of pleasure and shock, I opened my mouth in a guttural moan.

He pushed us into the kitchen, his mouth nibbling my right ear now. I gasped again, and grabbed at his ass. He groaned and backed me up to the kitchen table, his hand pushing the plates of food further away from where he was bending me backwards.

"Safe word? Need it." he groaned to me, his fingers unbuttoning and unzipping my jeans.

"Mmmh...what?" I asked, my brain not connecting anything but the fire in his almond eyes.

"Safe word...now," he said loud and clear.

"Oh, yeah," I said, feeling slightly stupid for not understanding the first time. I looked around quickly. "Stovetop," I said quickly, feeling a cringe at how unsexy that safe word was, but he nodded that he understood, not seeming to care beyond needing to know what it was.

He lifted me up onto the table, and pulled down my jeans and boxers. I was already hard and he began to suck and lick.

I gasped out of shock and then I shuttered, my fingers grabbing at his hard and as his tongue swirled around my tip, I pulled at his hair hard.

He growled. He actually was growling. The vibrations hitting me from my pelvis to my toes. I pulled are his hair again and another wave of vibrations. He released me and grabbed at my hair, his eyes narrowing into midnight slits.

"Lay down," he commanded, his voice deeper than I have ever heard it. I shuffled more securely onto the table, my ass hanging off and laid down on the table. He began to kiss my stomach and chest with firm kisses and tongue until he reached my face. I was making quivery noises now, my eyes feeling hazy as he looked at me.

I reached up for his face to pull him towards me, but he laughed and grabbed both of my wrists with his right hand and pushed them back onto the table behind my head. I yelped more from the surprise of it then of pain, but there was no hint of concern in his face. He was letting himself go. Not considering me too weak or frail.

_Oh my god, this can't get any hotter._

He pulled at my hair as hard as I had pulled at his. I felt my eyes roll back and felt my body climax for first time.

_Yes, it can get even hotter._

I looked back up at him as my body rode out my climax. I needed him inside of me. Now.

"Mark," I groaned, squeezing my thighs around his still clothed legs. "Please Mark."

He chuckled, and I shuttered again.

"You can do better than that," he said, and how released my hair and took my length into his free hand, and pumped me slowly. "Beg for me to fuck you like you mean it."

I was throbbing so much now, but I couldn't move my hands and he was stroking me almost painfully slow. My breath was shallow now from all the edging he was doing to me.

"Please fuck me...oh god, please," I said loudly, my legs were twisting and bending with the need to finish. His lips turned upwards into a lusty smile.

"Tell me that you belong to me," he said, the strokes still so long and slow.

"I belong to you," I repeated, my voice breathless.

"And that I belong to you," he groaned, the strokes quickening.

"You belong to me," I complied.

"That's right," he said as he let go of my member and pulled down his pants. I sighed happily and he let go of my wrists. I groaned and he placed a hand on my cheek and I turned my head to the right and he placed his hand near my lips. I placed his index and middle finger in my mouth and sucked on them.

"You're doing just what I wanted, baby," he cooed deeply, and after a moment, he pulled his hand away and rubbed at my opening with freshly wet fingers.

I climaxed again, the back of my head thumping the table. He chuckled softly.

"You can't be having all the fun," he growled, and with a small turn of my hips he thrusted inside of me.

So much pleasure, almost too much pleasure was flooding into me. I was nothing but a mass of moans and cries now. My mouth hanging open as he pushed in with all of his force. I grabbed onto his arms to give myself something solid to anchor onto. At this point I had no idea where we were. My brain might as well had gone on vacation.

"You don't cum until I do," I heard, it seemed from far away.

I groaned and sputtered that I understood. His movements were getting shorter and faster, which was always a clue that he was getting close.

I looked up at him, his eyes looking past me it seemed, as he was chasing his own orgasm. He lifted up his chin, and his grip on the rocking kitchen table get tighter.

"Get ready, Sean," he grunted, and he stretched out his neck and stiffened into a mightily climax. I was pushed over by him and I spilled all over our stomachs.

He slowed down and leaned over to me and kissed me tenderly, both our breathing labored.

I looked into his eyes, his face sweaty and red, but a smile clearly visible.

"You were right," he said wheezing, "letting go was fun. We must do that again, babe."

I giggled, and tried to sit up, but failed. I was still too exhausted to do anything but breathe.

He leaned over and grabbed on of the burgers from the plate, and still hovering on top of me, took a huge bite and started chewing.

I raised an eyebrow and laughed weakly. "Are you seriously eating food right after fucking the life out of me on our kitchen table?"

He looked at me, burger still in hand and smiled. "What can I say, Bright Eyes? I've always been amazing at multitasking."

We both laughed as he handed me a french fry.


	20. "You need to let him know that what he did hurt you."

-Mark's POV-

"You really look like you're about to throw up," he said, his blue eyes looking directly at my face.

"No, I'm fine," I said. "I always had the subtle shade of green to my skin."

He chuckled, and rubbed my hand with his. "It must be some leftover paint from the office the other night."

We were silent for a few minutes.

"If we need to wait to talk to Hunter about what happened," he said softly "then we can do this. You need to feel as comfortable as possible."

"No," I said simply. "I want to get this over with and start to move on. I also set an appointment with Dr. Barnes for us to see her right after we get back from England."

He smiled, and gave me a kiss on the cheek. "I'm so proud of you."

I smirked and puffed out my chest dramatically. "You know what, for once in a long while, I'm pretty damn proud of myself too. Plus the things that I did to you on this table...I want to feel confident enough to do that more often"

His cheeks turning bright red made me feel positively giddy.

"You don't have to rub it in about the table," he said, looking away. "You fucking sex machine."

"I think that I can get used to that nickname," I said, grabbing a hold of his hand.

"Not a chance," he retorted. "Your ego is big enough already."

The doorbell rang, and we both looked at each other.

"Are you ready for this?" he asked me, his hand reaching out for mine.

I took a deep breath, and nodded. "I'm ready."

I stood up and tried to let go of his hand, but he held on tightly.

"We do this together," he said up at me and smiling. "You're not alone anymore, Mark."

I felt like I was going to cry before even sitting down with Hunter, and pulling me with him, we headed towards the dining room, to finally filter through the past.

***

-Jack's POV-

"Oh please tell me that's coffee," I said looking out at the opened door at Hunter. He was smiling his usual brilliant smile, his dark wavy hair hidden underneath a dark blue baseball cap. He was holding three Starbucks cups in a cup holder, and wearing a dark blue tank top and form fitting black jeans.

"It is coffee," he said with a wink and walking in, his bright green eyes glancing over to Mark.

"I got you a green tea with mint and a splash of milk," he said, handing over one of the cups over to Mark.

Mark look somewhat startled as he took it.

"Did I remember it right?" Hunter asked.

"Yeah," Mark said, taking a small sip. "How in the world did you remember that?"

"As many times as you ordered it, I guess it stuck in my head," Hunter said, heading back over to me.

"And for you and I Jackrabbit, the best drink out there, straight black coffee."

I took one of the cups with a little smile. "Straight? Funny word to be using with all the present company in the room."

Mark coughed laughed on his tea, and Hunter looked back over to me, his chest shaking with sudden giggles.

"You are such a cheeky one, Jackrabbit," he said, clapping me hard on the back. "I love that about you."

Mark gave me a quiet look, and I nodded and turned to Hunter.

"Actually, Mark and I needed to talk to you about something. It's kind of an uncomfortable thing, if you don't mind."

For the first time since I had met him, Hunter looked mildly concerned. He looked over to Mark, who's face had become slightly agitated.

"Must be important with the way you both suddenly look," he said, taking a sip of his own coffee. "I'm all about talking things out. I'm all ears."

Mark gestured to one of the dining room chairs and Hunter sat down. He rubbed the back of his head and placed his cup on the table. Mark sat down on the chair to his right, and I moved the chair from the other side of the table and placed it beside Mark, and sat down next to him. He held out his hand, and I took it.

Hunter's green eyes watched each of our movements, almost like he was trying to predict what the issue was. His smile was now a look of slight confusion, but he sat patiently and waited for Mark to speak.

"I know that this was a long time ago, but I need to talk about what happened during our...well it wasn't really a relationship, was it?"

Hunter shook his head slowly. "No, it wasn't. It was definitely more that just hanging out but, no, it never did get that far."

"Do you remember the whole classroom incident?"

Hunter squinted his eyes, as if trying to recall a long forgotten time.

"I'm sorry Fishbowl, but I'm getting forgetful in my old age, and keep in mind that I dabbled in some crazy things when I was a model. My memory has never been the same since. Can you be more specific?"

"The underwear that I wore that day," Mark said, looking embarrassed but still pushing through. I could feel his hand tighten on mine.

"Underwear?" Hunter repeated, his face looking confused. Then you could see a spark of recognition hit his handsome face. "Oh, right...that. Red? Vibrating?"

Mark nodded, looking relived that he didn't have to go into further explanation.

There was another uncomfortable pause. Everyone took another sip of two of their drinks, almost to have something to do with our hands.

"I didn't realize until very recently how much that incident affected me, and how I deal with things sexually. "

Hunter's face looked almost panic stricken by this admission, and he began to talk quickly.

"Fish, please understand," he said, his eyes looking to Mark, "I was an idiot back then. An idiot who had no idea what I had with you. You were my best mate, and all the fun we were having just went to my head. The wrong head, obviously."

I chuckled at that, and Mark and Hunter both looked at me. "I'm sorry," I said looking awkward. "I'm like a six year old sometimes when I hear a dick joke."

Mark lifted up our interlaced fingers and kissed my hand. "That's one of the reasons why I love you, Bright Eyes."

Mark looked back over. "I'm not even sure what I want from you. I hadn't really ever thought that I would ever see you again, let alone talk to you about it."

"It can start with an apology from me," Hunter said softly. "Fish...Mark, I should say. I'm sorry for what I did. I can't even imagine how much that must have hurt you to go through that. I had no idea that it still was bothering you but, how could it not? I'm amazed that you and Jack have been so nice to me with this over both of you."

Mark looked over to me. "Well, honestly Jack only was told about it the other day. I think that I was still processing everything before then."

Hunter nodded and looked over at the two of us again. "So, are we all right? Still can come and jog with you and eat cheesy filled sandwiches?"

Both Mark and I laughed.

"Yeah," said Mark quietly. "I think we're all right."

Hunter made a deep intake on breath and took a large swig of his coffee, and we all relaxed into talking about that would be happening for the rest of the day together.


End file.
